ST. LOUIS — Ongoing rehabilitation work on Interstate 55 in south St. Louis has been delayed after dozens of bridge girders were damaged, according to state officials. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) announced on Thursday that the repairs and replacements of the steel girders on a northbound I-55 bridge south of Loughborough Avenue will result in at least an additional six months of traffic congestion for drivers near the St. Louis-St. Louis County line.
The full extent of the damage and the cost of the repairs are yet to be determined. Tom Evers, assistant St. Louis district engineer for MoDOT, stated that the price tag for replacing many of the girders and repairing others could potentially reach millions of dollars. The work on the affected span, originally scheduled to be completed by mid-2024, will now last until the end of next year or even longer.
Due to the delay, the rehabilitation of a companion bridge on southbound I-55 is now projected to extend well into 2025. This is because the construction cannot begin until the northbound span work is finished, as two-way traffic is currently condensed onto one side of the highway while the rehab work takes place on the other.
As a result of the extended timeline, motorists traveling along a three-quarter-mile stretch of I-55 between Loughborough and the River Des Peres will continue to be restricted to two lanes in each direction, instead of the usual four. The reduced speed limit of 50 mph will also remain in effect for a longer duration, along with ongoing closures of some nearby ramps.
MoDOT officials assert that the additional costs incurred by the delay will be attributed to KCI Construction Co., the prime contractor responsible for the $63 million project rehabilitating 26 bridges along I-55 in the city and county. The damage to the girders, which are the steel beams supporting the highway, was discovered during a cleanup process at the end of October. The girders were not initially meant to be repaired or replaced.
Tom Blair, MoDOT’s St. Louis district engineer, stated that the agency is holding the contractor accountable. KCI Construction Co. has not yet provided a comment regarding the matter.
According to Stephen Strum, an attorney for Premier Demolition Inc., a subcontractor involved in the concrete demolition on the damaged bridge, there is significant dispute as to whether Premier’s workers caused any damage. Strum suggested that the issue might be blown out of proportion.
The work on the I-55 project near the St. Louis-St. Louis County line will not affect similar ongoing construction on longer stretches of the interstate. MoDOT expects work crews to complete and reopen most of the currently closed lanes on the highway north of Virginia Avenue by the end of this year. The southern portion of the project, near Green Park Road and Gravois Creek in South County, is still on track to be finished by the fall of next year. Paving of I-55 between downtown and Lindbergh Boulevard is scheduled to follow the bridge work in 2024 and 2025.
This is not the first time MoDOT and KCI have faced an unusual construction delay related to bridge projects. In 2018, work was temporarily halted on the replacement of two Interstate 44 bridges in Shrewsbury due to an elevated number of cracks found on the first completed span. The project’s main contractor, KCI, later compensated MoDOT and filed a lawsuit against two subcontractors over alleged deficiencies involved in the delay.
As MoDOT and KCI continue to address the damage to the I-55 bridge girders, motorists in south St. Louis can expect longer commute times and ongoing traffic restrictions. The full extent of the repairs and the resulting financial impact will become clearer as the project progresses.
