MoDOT says it would have communicated more about explosion in hindsight

ROCHEPORT, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Department of Transportation demolished piers left over from the old Rocheport Bridge Sunday, but didn't warn the public of the blast.

Project Director Mike Schupp said emergency services and law enforcement were notified prior to the blast, but the public wasn't notified due to it being a routine procedure. He said they have done more than 30 explosions on the Rocheport Bridge Project to date.

"This is just more routine, demoing existing bridge piers, something we do pretty frequently," Schupp said. "So, we really didn't make it public knowledge. We didn't really see that it was necessary."

However, residents still said they would have liked to have been notified. They said it was even louder than when the bridge was demolished in September.

"If they knew it was going to create that much noise and that big of a shockwave, it probably would've been helpful to have a little warning," said Rocheport resident Drew Lemberger.

MoDOT cameras show crews laying blast mats over the piers on Friday and working in the area all day Saturday. The last boat to be seen by the cameras left the scene around 8:30 Sunday morning.

About ten minutes before the blast, no crews were seen in the area.

The blast occurred around 9 a.m. Sunday, with debris able to be seen on the interstate.

Schupp said traffic was stopped and crews were prepared for cleanup, but more debris made it onto the bridge than intended. One large chunk of debris landed on the bridge and caused damage.

He said Westbound lanes were open within 10-15 minutes of the blast, and the Eastbound passing lane was opened in about 40 minutes, with the other lane opening 6 a.m. Monday.

"If it had worked 100% as planned, we wouldn't have had any debris on the deck, and traffic would've been stopped for 30 seconds and we would've moved on," Schupp said.

He said MoDOT could have given more warning to the public.

"In hindsight, probably would've done more because there winded up being more debris than we had planned for," Schupp said.

He said there are more explosions planned for the Rocheport Bridge Project, and while no dates are set, he said MoDOT will notify the press of the explosions.

He wants to remind drivers to always put their phone down and pay attention when driving through the work zone.