JZ: How is the bridge at 170 being demolished. I noticed that the deck is being knocked out like at Clayton-Warson. Will the girders be cut out like at Clayton-Warson. When will all of this occur. Also, what is going on on the west side. How much more girder laying is needed at Lindbergh. When will the eastern half of the bridge deck be poured. Finally, when will Highland Terr. reopen.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Spirtas, our demolition subcontractor, will be out there again over I-170 tonight, and possibly tomorrow night as well to complete the removal of the I-64 bridge deck. Then they will begin removal of the girders and the abutment substructure, which is scheduled for every night next week. As at Clayton/Warson the steel girders will be removed with cranes and cutting torches. Access to Eager Road from I-170 will be closed during this work but the good news for people who live in the area is that next week's work won't be as noisy as this week's.

As for Lindbergh, due to the expected storm, work has been canceled for tonight. We will need about five more nights to set the remaining girders there.

As for "the eastern half of the bridge deck", I'm going to assume you are referring to the Kingshighway bridge, which is scheduled to pour on Friday.

At Highland Terrace the deck has been poured and final backfilling is underway. The remaining deck work will be completed and the bridge opened this spring but I don't have a date just yet.

Rich Monder: My question/comment is about the bridges at Highland Terrace and Boland. Gateway/MoDot initially planned for these bridges to be reconstructed in 6 months. Over the weekend, I read that they will not be ready until early summer.

Is the hold-up due to unforseen problems with the construction process? Or has Gateway pulled builders off of the Highland and Boland bridge jobs (with the approval of MoDOT) to complete other tasks because there is no contractual obligation to complete these two bridges in 6 months?

If it is the last scenario, I find it highly arrogant for MoDOT and Gateway to make the determination that these two bridges are not important enough to be finished by the "promised" time (in fact, the "promised" time appears to have been off by as much as 66%). Those bridges connect communities -- especially the Boland bridge which connects the neighborhood to churches and schools yet it seems like they are a low priority.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: The bridges at Highland and Boland do not have a contractual obligation regarding days for completion. Technically, they have to be complete by total project completion of July 31, 2010. Not every item in the contract has a limited day contractual obligation. When the bridges were removed in August 2007, we announced it was estimated to take six months. Bellevue did have a contractual obligation of 180 days to be closed. All three bridges were removed the same weekend so we would only have to close the interstate one weekend to remove the bridges instead of two weekends.

Gateway Constructors submitted the closure obligations as part of their proposal to win the project. That proposal became the contractual obligation.

We understand these bridges are important to the communities. They do provide local circulation to the neighborhoods, churches and schools. They do not have any access to the interstate. We are trying to get them complete as soon as possible. Gateway has made progress on them in the last month and they should be open by early June if not sooner.

Linda Wilson

Bob Sacamano: Whats the deal with Brentwood South Exit off of I-170. The traffic from that off ramp backs up onto the highway even during non-peak hours. Is it possible temporarily change the configuration of that offramp so people can merge onto Brentwood instead of stopping at a stop sign? Seems like a horribly designed ramp.

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Engineers from MoDOT, Gateway Constructors, St. Louis County and the City of Brentwood have all discussed repeatedly the problems with the Brentwood south exit ramp from I-170. There aren't any changes that can be made to help the situation. There are so many demands on this area and no additional space to add anything. First, there are three lanes on Brentwood heading south past this light to the intersection with Clayton Road. The buildings on Brentwood are so close, we can't add another lane to allow the off ramp to continue on its own lane. We can't take away a lane from the Brentwood traffic without causing a problem. We can't put a signal there because it is too close to the signal at Clayton Road. We have also noticed part of the problem is motorists going from the exit ramp and trying to cross three lanes of Brentwood to make a left on Clayton Road. It is a difficult design all around.

Our suggestions are to try to use another access point to get around. If your destination is further south on Brentwood, we would recommend taking I-170 south to Eager Road to Brentwood. From there, you could go back north on Brentwood toward the Galleria or go south on Brentwood. You could also exit I-170 south at Forest Park Parkway and then exit to Brentwood Blvd.

Linda Wilson

Scott: Not so much a question as a suggestion.

I've heard of other state DOTs having a raffle for the privalage to be the first to drive a new section of highway. With the money going to some charity. Any thought to doing the same for the new section as I-64 as they are completed?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: We will have a ceremony of some sort when the west end is reopened and then in late 2009 when the east end reopens. We do not know the details for those events, but we want to provide an opportunity for people to celebrate the completion. Thank you for your suggestion.

Linda Wilson

Jack: Jackhammering highway concrete with large equipment is a very noisy and disruptive especially when it is done between 9 PM and 3 AM as Gateway is currently doing. Why isn't this work being performed during normal business hours? Does Gateway's profit motive exceed their care and concern for residents impacted by this inhumane treatment and scheduling of work? Linda, does MoDOT believe that disrupting the ability of residents along 40 to sleep during regular night hours is an appropriate way to use public funds?

Dan Galvin and Linda Wilson: Jackhammering highway concrete with large equipment is a very noisy and disruptive activity no matter what time of the day you do it. But since the bridge we're demolishing is going over live traffic on the I-170 ramp to Eager Road we had to do the work at night when that traffic was reduced and we can close the ramp.

Since working nights costs us more money and places our workers at greater risk of injury we would much prefer to do demolition during the day. Even if we did daytime closures and worked outside of rush hours (9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) we could only get in about six hours which would drag out the time it took to complete the work. Working at night enables us to get in a full nine hours which ends the noise sooner. We have to weigh the disruption to traffic and local businesses from closing during the day with the shorter term disruption to the surrounding area from working nights. That's why we're trying to go as fast as we can.