| Project Status: Complete and open to traffic. |
Rebuilding the Bear Creek Bridge, a Safe & Sound project
The Route 45 Bridge over Bear Creek near Weston is a three-span bridge. This structure consists of a single long-span, riveted plate through girder, flanked by four steel stringer approach spans, with the superstructure supported by concrete piers and abutments.
MoDOT engineered the Bear Creek Bridge in 1936. The contractor completed the structure later that year for $15,923.32. Since that time the bridge has functioned in place, with only minor maintenance-related repairs.
With its 115-foot through girder span and 1936 construction date, the Weston viaduct and Bear Creek Bridge are noteworthy as two of the earliest of these long-span beam bridges.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Bridge will be replaced in a similar time frame.
Making repairs would also have been costly and would require limitations on each bridge. Continued maintenance would not be able to address the larger loads using this route. The best use for taxpayers’ money and the safest alternative is for MoDOT to make plans to replace each bridge while minimizing the impacts to the drivers as much as possible.
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