The bridge over Red Bank Creek on Route 76 east of Vanzant is scheduled to close on Monday, April 4, and a new bridge built, the Missouri Department of Transportation said.
The new Route 76 bridge over Red Bank Creek will be built and open to traffic by May 10, MoDOT officials have said.
The bridge project in Douglas County is part of MoDOT’s Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement program that will replace or repair 802 bridges across Missouri by the end of 2013.
A new bridge is being built across Bryant Creek on Route B north of Mt. Zion at this time. That bridge is scheduled for completion April 12.
Four other bridges in Douglas County are scheduled for replacement this year:
* Route 76/Beaver Creek, southwest of Ava — July 11 to Aug. 24
* Route 14/Cowskin Creek, west of Ava — June 14 to July 9
* Route 76/Bryant Creek, east of Ava — Oct. 10 to Dec. 6
* Route 14/Fox Creek, near Gentryville — May 24 to July 20
Also, the bridge over Spring Branch on Route 76 west of Bradleyville in eastern Taney County is closed March 14. A new bridge there is to be completed and the road reopened by April 27.
The Beaver Creek bridge just east of Bradleyville is scheduled to close Aug. 5 and reopen by Oct. 8.
A detour for the Route 76/Red Bank Creek project in Douglas County will be signed along Douglas County Routes EE and AD and Route 95.
State highway traffic normally is not detoured onto county-maintained roads. However, local drivers familiar with the area will be able to use nearby county roads for a shorter route around the closed bridge.
MoDOT and contractors have alerted law enforcement, fire and ambulance agencies so they can plan how to respond to emergency calls with the bridge closed. The school district and post office also have been notified so they can adjust bus routes and mail carrier routes if necessary.
The Route 76 bridge over Red Bank Creek, about four miles east of Vanzant, was built in 1936.
The old bridge will be replaced by a new pre-cast concrete box-beam structure. The new bridge will be 26 feet wide with two-12 foot wide driving lanes.
The prime contractor on the Route 76/Red Bank Creek bridge is KTU Constructors, a group of bridge design and construction companies. The group is replacing 554 bridges of the 802-bridge total in the Safe & Sound program for $487 million.
Kiewit Western Co., a KTU Constructors partner, will build the Route 76 bridge over Red Bank Creek.
As part of the Safe & Sound program, the road is closed where each bridge is being replaced or repaired. Closing the road enables workers to do the bridge project quicker, safer and cheaper.
