"Within five years, 802 of Missouri's worst bridges will be repaired or replaced," said Missouri Department of Transportation Director Pete Rahn in a news release. "These badly needed improvements will mean crashes avoided, jobs created and the ability to get where you are going easier."

Rahn said recent turmoil in financial markets had forced the department to rethink the program's original approach.

MoDOT has budgeted $50 million a year out of our federal bridge money to pay for the program, he said.

In February 2008 MoDOT reached an agreement with Missouri Bridge Partners at a cost of $52.7 million annually.

"Almost immediately, the financial crisis our economy has been experiencing began to impact their proposal. Today, payments are estimated at $65 million to $74 million depending upon actual interest rates at the time of financial close," Rahn said. "This is just too expensive. It is not the best use of taxpayers' money and at this cost could threaten highway and bridge improvements in our adopted five-year construction program."

Rahn said MoDOT plans to issue bonds to pay for the project with annual payments of approximately $50 million from federal highway funds as budgeted previously. With finance charges, it's estimated that MoDOT's new plan will be $300-500 million cheaper than the MBP proposal, he said.

MoDOT has spent $15.6 million on development of the Safe & Sound program, an investment that will enable it to have 100 bridge projects under contract by spring, and will also reduce the cost of other contracting options and speed their implementation.

"In the end, it's not really about which delivery method gets us there, but that we get there, that matters," Rahn said. "We promised to give Missourians a safer transportation system by fixing hundreds of our lowest-rated bridges in a short amount of time, and we'll deliver on our promise."

There will be 554 bridge replacements included in a single design-build package to be advertised this fall and awarded in late spring 2009.

The remaining 248 bridges to be improved will be contracted using a modified design-bid-build approach, where projects are grouped by type, size or location to accelerate construction schedules.

A complete list of all the bridges in the Safe & Sound program and other information can be found on the MoDOT Web site at http://www.modot.org/safeandsound/index.....

"Better bridges are coming soon," Rahn said.

Saline County bridges in the final list -- all of which are labeled as "minor" in scope -- include:

--A1066 on Highway 127 south over Blackwater River

--A2466 on Highway BB south over Salt Fork Creek

--G0524 on outer road I-70 east over Copperas Creek

--G0525 on outer road I-70 east over Long Branch

--L0392 on Highway 127 south over KCS railroad

--L0890 on Highway YY south over Finney Creek

--N0423 on Highway VV south over Brushy Creek

--N0595 on Highway TT south over Slough Creek

--N0662 on Highway AC south over Pierre Fleche Creek

--P0082 on Highway P east over Fish Creek

--R0474 on Highway F east over Edmondson Creek

--S0803 on Highway C east over Edmondson Creek

--T0069 on Highway 127 south over Robertson Creek

--T0070 on Highway 127 south over Salt Pond Creek

--T0708 on Highway 127 south over Elmwood Branch

--T0975 on Highway M south over Buck Creek

--X0426 on Highway D south over Fish Creek

--X0916 on Highway 127 south over Salt Fork Creek

On the Net:

www.modot.org/safeandsound/index.htm