Crews will detonate part of the Fairfax Bridge to help make way for a brand new $79 million replacement bridge. The American Bridge Company plans to blast the end spans of the bridge at 9 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 16. The larger section of the bridge will be detonated at a later date.
Crews will close northbound and southbound U.S. 69 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day to accommodate the blast. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has designated a public viewing area at E.H. Young Riverfront Park, located at 1001 Argosy Pkwy. in Riverside, Mo.
The current U.S. 69 Highway Bridge over the Missouri River is a dual bridge structure consisting of the Platte Purchase Bridge and the Fairfax Bridge.
Those bridges connect Platte County, Mo. and Wyandotte County, Kan. The new structure will be a singular bridge with multiple lanes and bike/pedestrian access. The new U.S. 69 Highway Bridge is scheduled to be open to traffic in December 2016.
The project is a joint effort between MoDOT and the Kansas Department of Transportation and MoDOT. All work is weather dependent.