The U.S. 54 Mississippi River Bridge, also known as the Champ Clark Bridge, at Louisiana, MO, is now posted to restrict the weight limit to 40 tons. "This is a legal load, but overweight vehicles will no longer be allowed to cross the bridge," said MoDOT District Engineer Paula Gough.

"During a routine annual inspection, additional structural deficiencies were discovered, and while the bridge remains safe to cross within the posted limits, the new restrictions are necessary to eliminate the potential for having heavier commercial vehicles on the bridge at the same time," Gough explained.

Signs have been posted on either side of the bridge, and message boards alerting motorists with heavy loads of the posted load limit.  Enforcement will be monitoring the area to ensure compliance.  Primarily, this will affect oversize and overweight commercial vehicles and commercial vehicles holding blanket permits.

"The weight restrictions will only allow vehicles 80,000 pounds or less to cross the bridge, regardless of whether they have overweight permits or other authority for overweight loads elsewhere on the state highway system," she added.

Vehicles weighing over 80,000 pounds will have to detour to Hannibal to cross the Mississippi River into Illinois.

"The Champ Clark Bridge has been on our priority list for replacement for some time, but with scarce and dwindling resources, we have had to prioritize major bridge projects and other bridges have needed more immediate replacement or repairs in recent years," Gough explained.

Later this fall, expansion joint repairs are scheduled for the bridge, and the bridge will be closed during this project.

In cooperation with other agencies, including the Illinois Department of Transportation, an environmental assessment is nearing completion to determine the location of a replacement for the Champ Clark Bridge – the first step that must be taken in planning for the project.  However, funding has not yet been identified to build a new bridge.

The 80-year-old bridge is inspected annually, but could be inspected more often considering the deteriorating condition. It is possible that future inspection results could result in a reduced load posting or a total closure of the bridge, and there are no funds available for its replacement.

MoDOT has 10,400 bridges on the state system. More than 50 of those major bridges, 1000 feet or longer, cross either the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers.  The average Missouri bridge is 46 years old, and most were designed for a 50-year life.