Dunklin County bridge closed until summer 2023 after support 'dips'

Construction bids are slated to be let in January 2023 and the new bridge should be completed by the beginning of summer for a bridge at Highway J near Glennonville.

DAR/Steve Hankins

DUNKLIN COUNTY — A bridge at Highway J near Glennonville in Dunklin County will be out of commission until early summer 2023, a Missouri Department of Transportation specialist said Thursday.

District Bridge Engineer for the Southwest District Ed Hess said soil erosion at the bridge site is the culprit.

“That bridge was built in 1971 with concrete piling,” Hess said. “We found during inspection that it wasn’t driven to the normal bedrock.”

Bridges are inspected every other year and a dip in the deck was discovered in September 2022.

“Our measurements revealed one pier had settled an inch to an inch-and-a half,” Hess continued. “That doesn’t sound like much. But for bridges, that’s a lot. They shouldn’t settle at all.”

For that reason, MoDOT decided to close the structure, the engineer said.

“The piling itself should be 25 to 30-feet long,” Hess noted. “Of that 25 to 30-feet, only five feet still is in the ground.”

“It’s the nature of the soil there,” Hess added. “It’s mostly sand. It’s very erodible. That soil condition given heavy rains during the last two years washing things out created the issue.”

The new bridge should include a standard eight-inch deck, he said.

“We’re designing a new structure,” Hess said.

Construction bids are slated to be let in January 2023 and the new bridge should be completed by the beginning of summer, Hess noted.

MoDOT initially released information about the bridge closure Sept. 7 through its website and media partners.