Pettis County Commissioners Announce Replacement of Harding Road Bridge Over Basin Fork

On Friday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m., the Pettis County Commission, MoDOT Senior Construction Inspector Brian Lavender, representatives from Brenneke Construction, and Anderson Engineering conducted a final inspection for Bridge No. 3560007 BRO B080 (040) on Harding Road.

After the inspection of the bridge was complete, it was determined the project was substantially finalized and the road was ordered to be opened to traffic effective Monday, Nov. 21.

“MODOT through the inspection program has pursued an aggressive process. With this perspective, we have realized there are a lot more bridges that have failed than we previously thought,” stated Western Commissioner Jim Marcum. “We have needed to step up our bridge program and this is a continuation of that goal to keep farm to market roads open.”

Pettis County is one of the most active counties when it comes to bridge maintenance through the B.R.O. program. Out of the 166 bridges in the county’s system, there are only three bridges closed due to deficiencies. As part of the counties commitment to attend those infrastructure needs, all three of the closed bridges are currently under contract to be replaced.

Presiding Commissioner David Dick mentioned, “Bridges are reviewed by MODOT every two years and the County Commission has taken the position to repair and replace the bridges on the top of the list.”

The approximately $517,000 bridge is the fourth bridge to be completed in 2022, three of them as BRO projects. Through this program, the Federal Highway Administration paid for 100 percent of the cost, avoiding the expenditures of local tax dollars.

Eastern Commissioner Israel Baeza concluded by stating, “This bridge is one major example of the commitment we have towards infrastructure improvements in Pettis County by projecting eight more bridge replacements in the next two to three years.”

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