Cave discovered during bridge construction near Bonne Femme Creek
BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A cave was discovered earlier this month during construction of the bridge on Highway 163 over the Bonne Femme Creek.
Missouri Department of Transportation workers were excavating for the foundation of the new bridge on April 11 when they encountered an opening in the surface.
"These underground voids were not encountered when MoDOT did our initial investigative borings that are part of our bridge design process, so finding this cavity was a surprise to us," MoDOT engineer Jeff Kroner said.
Roxie Campbell, of Missouri State Parks, said preliminary reports show about 120 feet of cave. It connects to Devil’s Icebox Cave in Rock Bridge State Park, and she said this type of cave is known as a karst feature.
"The water in Bonne Femme Creek goes down through cracks and swallow holes and then travels underground, so this cave is part of the conduit that would then take that water towards Devil's Icebox Cave,” Campbell said.
She said the cave is on private property and will not affect the state park. MoDOT is currently working with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and the Cave Research Foundation to explore the area and conduct research.
"We've known that there's water flowing from that area to the cave, so there's bound to be additional passageways, but we have no idea what size they are,” Campbell said. “But, the fact that one cave was found gives some indication there could be others."
