The Champ Clark Bridge replacement project has received a national design award from the Design-Build Institute of America.
The new bridge that spans from Pike Station in Pike County, Illinois to Louisiana, Missouri carrying US 54 over the Mississippi River opened last year. According to the Quincy Herald-Whig, the new bridge replaced the Old Champ Clark Bridge, which dated back to 1928.
The bridge was named a project of merit in the transportation category, one of four to receive that distinction in the country.
In total, more than 30 different public work projects were selected as project of merits across an array of municipal and state works categories. The bridge and other selected projects now advance to compete for the DBIA National Award of Excellence and Project of the Year awards, scheduled to be announced later this year.
The new bridge doubled the previous bridge’s width. The project included infrastructure improvements on both sides of the river, including raising the Sny Levee in Pike County, which regularly flooded the highway during high water.
The bridge took 27 months and $61 million to complete as a joint effort between the Missouri and Illinois Departments of Transportation. According to the Quincy Herald-Whig, it’s the first design-build bridge to span the Mississippi River in an eight-state region. It was the Illinois Department of Transportation’s first design-build project.