Smoke causes visibility issues for drivers on Missouri River Bridge

UPDATE – 8:00 A.M.: Missouri’s Department of Transportation said it is monitoring a driftwood fire on the Missouri River near the I-70 bridge at Rocheport.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_Central/status/1004698756661628931″,”author_name”:”MoDOT Central Dist”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_Central”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;We are monitoring a driftwood fire in the main channel of the river near the I-70 Missouri River Bridge at Rocheport. The fire and smoke is not affecting traffic at this time and is not a danger to the bridge. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/bBOHTVyh27″&#gt;pic.twitter.com/bBOHTVyh27&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;— MoDOT Central Dist (@MoDOT_Central) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_Central/status/1004698756661628931?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;June 7, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

The fire caused drivers visibility issues beginning late Wednesday evening and again Thursday morning.

MoDOT said the smoke is no longer affecting traffic on the bridge.

UPDATE – 6:00 A.M.: Boone County joint communications issued another report of smoke at the Missouri River Bridge at I-70 near Rocheport.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/BCJC911/status/1004678546445488129″,”author_name”:”Joint Communications”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/BCJC911″,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;BOONE CO JOINT COM: Smoke from pier on fire under the I70 Missouri River Bridge creating a traffic hazard. Use caution, avoid area if possible.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Joint Communications (@BCJC911) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/BCJC911/status/1004678546445488129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;June 7, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

Authorities are advising drivers to avoid the area as the smoke from a burning pier under the bridge is causing a “traffic hazard.”

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JoeABC17/status/1004686005528678400″,”author_name”:”Joe McLean”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JoeABC17″,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;.&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JackABC17?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;@JackABC17&#lt;/a&#gt; is on scene of the I-70 bridge over the Missouri River near Rocheport. He says traffic is moving smoothly this morning, but that smoke is visible from a pier below. &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ABC17News?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#ABC17News&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/WgrFkjFHXJ”&#gt;https://t.co/WgrFkjFHXJ&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/tSBLx9b48d”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/tSBLx9b48d&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Joe McLean (@JoeABC17) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JoeABC17/status/1004686005528678400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;June 7, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

ABC 17 News has a crews headed back to the bridge to survey the scene and gather more information.

UPDATE – 4:00 A.M.: All lanes of the Missouri River Bridge in Boone County have since reopened.

ABC 17 News drove over the bridge a few hours after the closure to check up on the issue and found the smoke had cleared up.

Original story: The eastbound driving lane on I-70 is currently shutdown near Rocheport due to smoke on the Missouri River Bridge.

Boone County Joint Communications sent out an alert urging drivers to avoid the area if possible because the smoke is causing visibility issues.

According to online dispatch records, the Boone County Fire Protection District was dispatched for an investigation near mile marker 115 at 10:27 p.m.

ABC 17 News is working to confirm the source of the smoke and will update this article.