COLUMBIA, Mo. – A ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of the Columbia I-70 bridges project has been set for 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 26 in the parking lot of Aldi’s, 807 Business Loop 70 West.
The public is invited to attend the ceremony.
The project included replacing bridges on Interstate 70 at Garth Avenue, Range Line Street and Business Loop 70/West Boulevard. Improving the interchanges at Range Line Street and Business Loop were also part of the $17.5 million project.
An average of 80,000 vehicles a day cross the I-70 bridges at these three locations. The bridges that were replaced dated back to 1957 and were in poor condition.
Construction on the project began in August of 2015 and was essentially complete this month, just one year later and two months ahead of schedule. Emery Sapp and Sons of Columbia, along with design partner Parsons Corporation, delivered the design-build project. Design-build is a project delivery method that combines both the design and construction phases into one contract to save time and resources.
“We want to thank the Columbia-area community for their patience and support during this project,” said Travis Koestner, assistant district engineer for MoDOT’s Central District. “We hope folks will come out and help us celebrate this successful transportation improvement, which was completed just one year and two days after we broke ground.”