The new I-270 Chain of Rocks Bridge is being built across the Mississippi River by Walsh Construction.
The project’s first pour for a drilled shaft took place earlier this month. The pour was for a 2.75m-diameter shaft in the Mississippi River.
The existing bridge, which was built in 1966, is regarded as too narrow and requires frequent maintenance and repairs. The joint project by the departments of transportation of Illinois and Missouri will replace the bridge with two structures that have wider shoulders that can accommodate the eventual expansion of I-270 to three lanes in each direction. A companion US$35.4 million Missouri Department of Transportation project will reconstruct an interchange just west of the bridge.
