By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Crews with the Missouri Department of Transportation begin work repairing the I-229 bridge in downtown St. Joseph today.
Extreme heat caused the asphalt to buckle, forcing MoDOT to close the northbound lane due to unsafe driving conditions.
Assistant District Engineer Troy Slagle says the bridge is constructed with a wearing surface that the heat caused to become unstable.
"And with that sun hitting it, there was nothing to hold it down, and basically when it was expanding from that heat it ended up buckling it and breaking it, actually broke it down one of the joints down the middle of the bridge," Slagle tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
Repairs on the bridge will begin today. MoDOT will close the southbound lane between the Felix and Charles Street ramps and the U.S. Route 59 (St. Joseph Avenue) ramp to southbound I-229 along with the northbound lane.
Slagle says the damage is across about a 100-foot stretch of road, but once crews are out there's a chance more damage could be found.
"When we start removing it, we'll know more, it might expand, sometimes you're doing the best you can looking at it from above and sounding it and trying to figure out what parts sound and what part isn't," Slagle explains. "But when you actually start sawing and removing, you'll figure it out pretty quick."
Slagle says currently there is not a timeline for how long the repairs will take.
"We'll have to figure out when we get that wearing surface removed and look and see what we've got, what we're dealing with down below, and like I said the length of the damage," Slagle says. "But naturally we're going to have to remove that, get it sand blasted, cleaned, put a bonding agent in there, and then go back with new concrete."
Slagle says once the concrete is settled it will still take some time for it to cure so the repairs will not be quick. All road repairs will be done weather permitting.