Enoch’s Knob Road Bridge to Reopen by End of December

After about three years of closure, the Enoch’s Knob  Road bridge west of Washington is set to reopen at the end of December.

Surface for the bridge deck was poured last week, and the bridge walls will be done this week.

The bridge is being replaced since it was declared “structurally unfit” and closed by the Missouri Department of Transportation, said Eva Gadcke, Franklin County highway administrator.

 The $1.3 million bridge project has basically stayed on budget with 80 percent of the cost being covered by the federal Surface Transportation Program and 20 percent by the county’s half-cent capital improvement sales tax, she said.

Right-of-way costs for the project were in line with what was expected going into the work, she said.

“We’re in good shape on the bridge,” Gadcke said.

However, she said the Local Public Agency Manual used for the project was rewritten by MODOT during the course of the project, and this caused a couple of change orders.

Reopening the bridge, which is located off of Highway 185, should provide residents in the area quicker western access. A quarry near the bridge will also benefit from having the access reopened, Gadcke said.

She added that the construction is “right on schedule.”

The contractor on the project is L. Krupp Construction, Ellisville.

Another county bridge on Country Club Road was reopened two weeks ago.  The single-span bridge had to be replaced  because it was deemed structurally deficient. It was closed for 60 days during construction, which Gadcke said is a significant amount of time since the bridge is fairly well traveled.

MODOT inspects the county’s bridges every two years.