An Arnold construction company has been hired to rehabilitate the northbound and southbound Meramec River bridges on I-55 in the Arnold area, Missouri Department of Transportation officials announced.
Kozeny Wagner Construction will be paid $16.5 million to complete routine maintenance on the bridges and to repair deteriorated sections of the decks on the bridges that span the Meramec River and connect Jefferson and St. Louis counties.
Jordan Dalaviras, MoDOT area liaison for Jefferson and Franklin counties, said Kozeny Wagner submitted the lowest of four bids for the project, which originally was projected to cost $17.8 million.
Work on the bridges is expected to start between late February and April and be completed by late 2027, according to MoDOT’s website, modot.org.
Dalaviras said along with the maintenance and repair work, Kozeny Wagner will touch up the bridges’ joints, work on the bridges’ substructures and address erosion issues on the north side of the bridges in south St. Louis County.
The work will be completed in four phases, and MoDOT intends to keep as many lanes open as possible on both bridges during the project. The southbound bridge has five lanes, and the northbound bridge has six lanes.
“MoDOT and the consultant team have looked at the traffic data to ensure the needed work on the bridge is completed while still maintaining the most amount of flow on the bridge,” Dalaviras said. “The work on the bridge being split into four phases allows for more lanes to be open during construction.
“While open lanes are being maintained we do ask motorists to continue to pay attention and follow all work zone signs and speed limits to safeguard the safety of our workers, as well as other motorists.”
MoDOT originally anticipated starting work on the Meramec River bridges this month or early next year.
According to MoDOT’s website, the later start should allow for bridge work on I-55 at Loughborough Avenue in St. Louis to be completed before work on the I-55 bridges spanning Jefferson and St. Louis counties begins. The work at Loughborough Avenue is expected to be completed in March.
“If the Meramec Bridge project begins in late February, there would be little to no overlap in the lane restrictions on the two projects,” according to MoDOT’s website.
As work is finished on the Meramec River bridges, MoDOT will close the northbound left-turn lane on Hwy. 141 that leads to the on-ramp, and southbound Hwy. 141 drivers will need to yield before entering the on-ramp in Arnold, according to the website.
During the first phase, crews will work on the west section of the southbound bridge, and two southbound lanes will be closed and traffic will be diverted onto the northbound bridge, leaving three open lanes on the southbound bridge. That will leave four northbound lanes open.
For phase two, crews will work on the three southbound lanes that were open during phase one. That will shift southbound traffic to the two completed lanes on the west side of the southbound bridge, and drivers will continue to use those two lanes to travel south on the northbound bridge with the other four lanes remaining open for northbound traffic.
Phase three will shift the work to the northbound bridge, with work starting on the two lanes on the east side of the bridge. Three of the northbound lanes will remain open on that bridge, and three lanes will be closed and instead diverted onto the southbound bridge. Four lanes will be open on the southbound bridge.
During the final phase, three lanes on the west side of the northbound bridge will be closed, and drivers may use the three lanes completed during phase three to travel north as well as two northbound lanes on the southbound bridge, which will have four lanes open for those traveling south.
“The contractor will not be allowed to shift traffic until closer to springtime,” Dalaviras said. “This will provide for better temperatures for work to begin. More information will be provided before any major impacts are made to traffic.”
For information about the I-55 Meramec River bridges project, go to the project page at modot.org.