Missouri River bridge to open Nov. 14

The westbound Route 54/63 bridge in Jefferson City will reopen on Nov. 14, Missouri Department of Transportation officials announced Wednesday.

According to MoDOT’s official news release, the bridge, which has been closed since May 1 for painting and other repairs, was expected to open to traffic by the end of August, but unforeseen structural work kept it closed.

The blasting process used to remove the old paint on the bridge revealed a larger number of deteriorated rivets that needed to be replaced, so MoDOT extended its contract with Saffo Inc. to repair the rivets and perform other structural repairs.

“While we’re not happy we had to keep the bridge closed for longer than planned, we’re glad to be able to pinpoint a date for the bridge to reopen,” said MoDOT Central District engineer David Silvester. “Nov. 14 is still some weeks off, but at least we can see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The westbound bridge was built in 1955 and carries about 28,000 vehicles a day.