MISSOURI — The last of 31 bridges in a bundled replacement project opened in northern Missouri this month, marking the completion of the Fixing Access to Rural Missouri (FARM) Bridge Program. The program replaced 31 bridges across northern Missouri that were weight-restricted, supported by timber piles, in poor condition, and were one lane but carried two-way traffic.

The replacements were funded by a $20.8 million Competitive Highway Bridge Program grant from the Federal Highway Administration in 2018, as well as $5.2 million from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

“Rural roads and bridges matter. These roads are critical for farmers transporting grain and livestock to market, kids taking the bus to school, and first responders getting to emergencies in time. I was proud to work with MoDOT, Governor Parson, and President Trump to get these 31 one-lane timber pile supported bridges in north Missouri replaced with new, safer, two-lane bridges,” said U.S. Rep. Sam Graves. “Completing these new bridges is a big step forward for north Missouri and I’m going to continue working to rebuild our rural roads and bridges.”

“These bridges were in desperate need of replacement but were historically difficult to prioritize because of funding constraints,” said MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna. “This grant program allowed us the opportunity to take care of this work and truly improve access across northern Missouri communities.”

The design-build project was awarded to the Lehman-Wilson team in the spring of 2021. Design-build is a project delivery method in which one contracting team is selected to design and build the highway improvement under one contract. MoDOT provides the project goals, budget and schedule and the contractor team completes the work. This technique has been known to significantly save time and provide cost savings.

When the Route T bridge over Fitzgerald Branch in Gentry County opened this month, it marked the program’s completion – one month ahead of schedule. The full list of bridge replacements is available on MoDOT’s website: Fixing Access to Rural Missouri (FARM) Bridge Program | Missouri Department of Transportation (modot.org).