Community Corner

MoDOT Plans Second Blanchette Bridge Blast for Dec. 4

Interstate 70 at the bridge will be closed for one hour for safety.

More closures are coming next week to the Blanchette Bridge. 

Weather permitting, portions of Interstate 70 over the Missouri River will close Tues., Dec. 4. The closure is expected to be for one hour. Missouri Department of Transportation crews will be blasting the remaining two sections of the steel truss on the closed westbound I-70 Blanchette Bridge. Sections of the bridge were blown up earlier in November. 

Road crews will close one lane of I-70 in both directions at 9 a.m. An hour later, at 10 a.m., all eastbound I-70 traffic will be detoured off the highway at Route 94 and directed to Route 364 where they can proceed eastbound on Route 364 to Interstate 270 and back north to I-70.

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Westbound traffic will be detoured off the highway at Interstate 270. Drivers will be directed to Route 370 where they can head west on Route 370 to get back to I-70. 

Police will block the other access points to the closed section of I-70 at the Route 94, Fifth Street and Earth City Expressway/Route 141 interchanges. 

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MoDOT is strongly advising motorists to avoid I-70 between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Once the area is secured after 10 a.m., MoDOT will blast and bridge and pieces will be dropped into the river below. The blast is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. After the explosion, MoDOT crews will the eastbound section of the bridge to clear any debris before the highway can be reopened.

It is expected this process will take approximately one hour.

If there is inclement weather, the blasting will be postponed until the next dry day.

This blast will be visible from the St. Charles riverfront for public viewing. The blast will only lasts a moment, but it will drop more than 1,000 feet of truss, including 4.5 million pounds of steel into the Missouri River. The area immediately adjacent to the bridge including Bangert Island Conservation Area and parts of the Riverwoods Trail will be closed for safety.


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