A bridge replacement on Highway 40 in southern Howard County is moving along steadily. Work began in June to replace the 80-year-old bridge over Salt Creek and the Katy Trail. The project is among those included in Gov. Mike Parson’s $351 million Focus on Bridges program, which will repair or replace 250 bridges across the state.

Workers poured a new concrete deck on January 17. This week, crews were expected to pour new barrier walls and curbs.

At one time, information on the Missouri Department of Transportation’s website suggested the bridge would be completed by the end of January. It was recently updated with a completion date of March 15, depending on the weather.

Below the Highway 40 bridge, a bridge crossing Salt Creek for the Katy Trail was recently completed. The Missouri State Parks held a ribbon-cutting in May to officially reopen the Salt Creek Bridge on the Katy Trail between Rocheport and New Franklin. In 2019, the bridge was washed off its pilings during severe flooding of the Missouri River. This section of the trail was closed while the bridge was out, causing an inconvenient detour for trail users.

Highway 40 is a major artery in Howard County. The highway joins to Highway 5 south of Boonville by New Franklin and connects to Interstate 70 in Boone County. The closure six miles west of New Franklin and just east of the Highway 240 intersection, has caused mild inconveniences for commuters.

Highway 40 will remain closed after the new bridge is complete due to more planned bridgework. According to Kirsten Munck, a MoDOT central engineer, once the Salt Creek bridge is complete, work will immediately begin to replace the deck and existing girders on the bridge over the Bonne Femme creek, about two miles east of New Franklin. The work on the 244-foot-long bridge will last approximately 90 days. The bridge was constructed in 1948.

Munck said the work could not have been done simultaneously with the Salt Creek bridge because those living between the two bridges would have been locked in.

Another nearby bridge is also under reconstruction. The bridge over Moniteau Creek on the Highway 240 spur, which connects U.S. 40 to Rocheport in south Howard County, closed in January. MoDOT says the nearly 60-year-old bridge “is old and has reached a point where replacement is necessary.” The project is scheduled to be completed in June.