The Rocheport Bridge is a Continuous two-span subdivided Warren through truss bridge over Missouri River and the Katy trail on Interstate70 (I-70), west of Columbia and south of Rocheport in Boone and Cooper County, Missouri. The I-70 Rocheport Bridge is a 3,018-foot bridge constructed in 1960 and underwent extensive rehabilitation in 1993.

This bridge carries 34,000 vehicles and 8,227 commercial vehicles daily. The 2015 State Freight Plan estimates between 31 and 46 million tons of freight moves through this corridor valued at slightly less than $100 billion.

In Missouri, I-70 connects Kansas City on the western side of the state with St. Louis on the eastern side of the state, generally running east-west across the middle of the state. It is the only four-lane, fully accessed, controlled east-west highway in Missouri. Missouri is at the freight crossroads of America. As the geographic and demographic center of the population of the United States, Missouri is well-positioned as the country’s freight nexus. Missouri does the heavy lifting every day for freight mobility – manufacturing, agriculture, mining, distribution, logistics – and serves as a connector state that holds the region and the nation together.

In 2011, nearly 600 million tons of pass-through freight moved through, making up nearly 59 percent of the total tonnage of goods moving through the state. Almost 40 percent of the pass-through freight moves by truck, primarily on the interstate system. Current projections indicate that the pass-through traffic will increase in the future, reinforcing the role of Missouri as a Freight Connector State.

Interstate 70 is at the heart of Missouri’s freight transportation system and typifies this national and regional connector role. The Rocheport Bridge provides access and alleviates the barrier created on I-70 by the Missouri River, allowing freight to move efficiently within and through the state without impediment.