The US 60/US 62 Mississippi River Bridge connecting Missouri and Illinois will close for a year while crews make major repairs on the 86-year-old structure.
The two-lane bridge carries traffic over the river near Cairo, Illinois and Charleston, Missouri.
Illinois Department of Transportation Engineer Doug Helfrich says the $3 million worth of repairs will be mostly similar to those done in 2012 when high flood waters closed the bridge.
"They couldn't do it all at once," said Helfrich. "So this is just the additional work, finishing up the remainder of the four-beam connections and the joints."
Helfrich says
The bridge was closed for a week last year for a safety inspection.
Message boards are posted in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky alerting motorists to the closure. Helfrich says no official detour route has been designated. Another bridge is located six miles to the north.
The bridge will close March 16, 2015 and is expected to reopen March, 2016.
