Rolla grads play key roles in I-70 bridge construction
Posted by magazine
Pictured from left: Ken Berry, CE’94, quality control inspector with Shalom Services; Chris Kelly, CE’03, quality assurance inspector with MoDOT; Kenny Bassler, EE’11, electrical project manager with Paynecrest, Randy Hitt, CE’87, bridge inspector with MoDOT; Chris Morgan, CE’02, quality assurance inspector with MoDOT; Henry Woods, CE’97, quality assurance inspector with MoDOT; Ron Leible, CE’87, utilities engineer with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly; John Grana, CE’85, resident engineer with MoDOT; Tom Tavernaro, CE’87, project manager with Alberici Corp., Massman Construction and Traylor Bros. Not pictured is Jeff Church, CE’84, deputy project director with the Illinois Department of Transportation.
A number of Rolla graduates were involved in building the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi River connecting downtown St. Louis and southwestern Illinois via Interstate Highway 70. The bridge opened to traffic on Feb. 9.
On July 26, ironworkers reached a milestone by positioning the 80-foot-long, 30,000-pound final floor beam.
According to Randy Hitt, CE’87, bridge project director with the Missouri Department of Transportation, a poster of Joe Miner was placed on the last piece of structural steel to celebrate the “Rolla heritage of the engineers working on the project.”
“The cable-stayed bridge with a 1,500-foot main span is the third-longest in the United States,” says Hitt.
