A contract has been executed with Calhoun Ferry Company to operate a ferry service at Glasgow during the upcoming closure of the bridge over the Missouri River. The company was awarded the $1.7 million contract in April.

Calhoun's ferry is 34 feet wide by 90 feet long and can transport up to 80 tons at a time. The ferry can handle 15 typical passenger cars per trip. It's equipped and sized to also handle emergency vehicles, combines, road tractors, school buses and other larger vehicles. The ferry will operate seven days a week from 6:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. and will operate continuously during those hours when demand exists on either side of the river.

The cost of the ferry service is $8 per one-way trip for passenger vehicles if tickets are purchased at the ferry. Oversize vehicles will require four tickets per trip ($32 if purchased at the ferry). Tickets will also be available for purchase from the City of Glasgow at a reduced cost of $6 per ticket.

The contractor performing the partial replacement of the bridge, Jensen Construction Inc., plans to close the bridge to traffic beginning Monday, Aug. 4. The ferry service will be in operation when the bridge closes.

The timeline for the project as it moves forward is:

Bridge closed to traffic -- Aug. 4, 2008

Maximum bridge closure days -- 365 calendar days

Bridge opened to traffic -- Aug. 4, 2009

Project completion date -- Dec. 31, 2009

According to a history of the bridge on MoDOT's Web site, the Glasgow bridge first opened to traffic in 1925. Before it was built, several ferries regularly plied the short distance from one side of the Missouri River to the other.

The bridge was built largely in response to local Howard and Saline County residents' efforts to take advantage of the 1921 Centennial Road Law passed by the Missouri General Assembly.

Local leaders in both counties believed the new structure would guarantee the construction of a major state highway through Glasgow, but their hopes were never realized.

The Highway Commission instead chose a more southerly route to connect St. Louis and Kansas City, routing Highway 40 across Missouri at Boonville. Today, it's Interstate 70 that provides the link between Missouri's major cities.

The Glasgow bridge, despite its more remote location, continues to carry a lot of traffic. But it was last updated in 1986, when the original deck was replaced and new guardrails were installed, followed a few years later by new navigational lighting, repair of the footings of one of the piers, and a coat of asphalt on the deck.

The updates scheduled to begin in August 2008 are expected to last 50 years or more, make the bridge wider and remove vertical clearance restrictions. MoDOT believes the improvements will be "a huge benefit to our state's transportation and the surrounding communities."

For more information, contact the MoDOT District 2 Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-ASK MoDOT (275-6636). For a complete history of the existing bridge, go to tinyurl.com/6phsoo.

Contact Kathy Fairchild at

marshallhealth@socket.net