Boone Bridge Rock Blasting Begins Tuesday

The Missouri Department of Transportation begins rock blasting along Highway 40 at the west end of the Daniel Boone Missouri River Bridge Tuesday.

It's part of the department's reconstruction work on the span of bridge.

MoDOT stated in a news release that the work is weather permitting, and that the blasting is not expected to impact drivers until Thursday, February 21. That is the first blast that will likely stop traffic for approximately 10 minutes at 2 p.m. MoDOT said that blasting will occur every day, or every other day, Monday through Friday, for approximately one month.  

Highway 40 traffic will be impacted for those 10 minutes, Eastbound traffic will be slowed at the Route 94 interchange and westbound traffic will be slowed starting at the Boone’s Crossing interchange.  

Entrance ramps at Missouri Research Park and Chesterfield Airport Road will also closed during the daily blasting operations and KATY Trail users will be stopped on the trail adjacent to the bridge, MoDOT stated in the news release.

"The blasting work is necessary to build the new shared use path from the end of the new eastbound bridge down to connect to the KATY Trail in St. Charles County," MoDOT stated in the release. "Construction of the new I-64 Daniel Boone Bridge began in January. The new eastbound bridge will be opened to traffic in late 2014.  In 2015, the current eastbound bridge will be rehabilitated. By the end of 2015, westbound I-64 traffic will be moved to this bridge and the current 1935 westbound bridge will be removed."

For more details on the Highway 40 Boone Bridge project, visit modot.org/boonebridge .