The new bridge project was formally started on Tuesday.
The Missouri and Illinois Departments of Transportation held a groundbreaking ceremony to commemorate the start of construction for the Chester Bridge on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River
Preliminary construction on the new bridge has been underway for several months.
“This is a once in a generation project and I’m proud to be a part of it,” MoDOT Project Director Brian Okenfuss said. “MoDOT and IDOT have worked very hard to get to this point. The bridge is 80 years old and time to be replaced. I’m happy to be a part of it.”
Once completed, the bridge will be named the Don Welge Memorial Bridge, after the industry titan that did so much work in both Illinois and Missouri.
“Don was a tireless advocate for a new bridge,” Okenfuss said. “Anytime I saw him he was always reaching out saying we need a new bridge.”
Don Welge served as President of Gilster Mary-Lee which has 12 facilities in Illinois and Missouri. His son Tom said his father would be proud of this day.
“It could be said that we should be building more bridges, both physically and metaphorically,” Tom Welge said. “In my father’s mind non was more important than this bridge. He understood the importance of this crossing to the agriculture business and tourism in both states. The last few years pointed out the weak links in our supply chain and a modern infrastructure is needed for future security. The last 15 years of his life was spent advocating for a new bridge. If he thought in any way that you had influence, knew anyone that could influence the bridge decision, or maybe even looked at the bridge, he would give you a presentation about its issues.”
The bridge will also be wider with two 12-foot lanes and a pair of 10-foot shoulders.
“Now agricultural traffic will not have to call the police to help them across,” he said. “Those are just a few of the bigger impactful things that people can see.”
Construction for the Chester Bridge was started at the end of August, with little limitations for traffic for those who use the bridge on a daily basis.
“The good thing about this design is that it is built off-alignment,” Okenfuss said. “There probably won’t be much impact to traffic until the last few weeks of the project.”
The Chester Bridge currently has two 11-foot lanes and carries 7,000 vehicles per day with approximately 25 percent being commercial motor vehicle traffic. It connects the cities of Chester and Perryville across the Mississippi River via Highway 51.
In March 2023, the Ames Team—comprised of Ames Construction Inc. and Parsons Transportation Group—was selected to design and build the Don Welge Memorial Bridge. The new bridge will cost approximately $284 million to complete.
The current truss bridge was originally constructed in 1942 and was re-constructed in 1944 after a severe storm destroyed the main span. The bridge has allowed motorists to travel both east and west across the Mississippi River for 80 years.
This truss bridge has 14 spans for a total length of 2,827 feet. There are two main spans of 670 feet each. The bridge accommodates two lanes of traffic and is 22 feet wide with a vertical clearance of 19 feet 6 inches.
Over the course of eight decades, the Chester Bridge has become less functional for modern vehicles. Although the bridge is safe for travel, this aging structure is considered to be in poor condition. MoDOT is continuing to monitor the bridge. The last inspection occurred in the fall 2021.
The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission approved an amendment to the FY2022-2026 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program to fund the Chester Bridge Replacement Project (J9P3857) during its meeting on Sept. 9, 2021. The estimated cost of the replacement project is $189 million. The Illinois Department of Transportation committed $63 million toward the cost of a bridge replacement in its FY2022-2027 Rebuild Illinois Highway Improvement Program.
The Chester Bridge replacement is on pace to be completed in Dec. 2026.
