Missouri Bridge Repair Plan Could Be Model for Other States

Missouri lawmakers approved a massive bridge repair project Wednesday that could serve as a national model following the deadly Minneapolis bridge collapse.

The state plans to quadruple the pace of its bridge repairs by awarding a single 30-year contract to fix and maintain 802 of its worst bridges.

The sheer scope and duration of the project is so unusual that Missouri lawmakers met in a special session to waive conventional contractor requirements. The House passed the plan overwhelmingly last week, and the Senate sent it to the governor late Wednesday.

Missouri highway officials had outlined the bridge plan almost a year before the Aug. 1 collapse of a major Mississippi River highway bridge killed 13 people in Minnesota and raised nationwide concerns about aging infrastructure.

But Missouri lawmakers adjourned in May without passing a bill needed to allow the bidding process to move forward. Two weeks after the bridge collapse, Gov. Matt Blunt announced he was including the bridge repair legislation in a special session.

While many states stepped up their bridge inspections after the Minnesota tragedy, Missouri's plan would go further by actually speeding up improvements.

The plan would require the winning contractor to fix or replace all 802 bridges within five years — a task that otherwise would take two decades at Missouri's current pace.

The state would start paying the contractor only after all the repairs were completed, and the contractor would have to maintain the bridges in satisfactory condition for the next 25 years.

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