ST. LOUIS—Missouri Department of Transportation officials are warning the public that a bridge project along the I-55 corridor in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County that was supposed to be completed by next December will instead extend into 2025 due to damage caused by a contractor.

In a Thursday news conference, officials said they learned in late October that crews hired to demolish the concrete on an I-55 bridge northbound past Germania over Union Pacific railroad tracks had damaged most of the 80 girders under the bridge. Girders are the steel underneath the driving surface that holds the concrete and vehicular traffic.

MoDOT was still working to determine the full extent of the damage, but said other bridges in the project had not sustained similar damage. It could take six months to design, manufacture and deliver the new girders, officials said.

KCI Construction is the prime contractor for the project, although It was unclear Thursday if a subcontractor was responsible for the damage. Calls seeking comment from KCI were not immediately returned.

“We have more work to do on this bridge than we anticipated and we’re going to continue to work with the contractor,” said Tom Evers, MoDOT’s Assistant District Engineer. “They’re cooperating with us, trying to work on getting a solution to this problem.” 

Under terms of the agreement for the project, contractors would be held liable for cost overruns for what was supposed to be a $63 million project. MoDOT says the cost of replacing the girders could run into the millions but did not have a more specific figure.

“What this means is that the current I-55 lane closures, with two lanes open in each direction, between River Des Peres and Loughborough will remain in place at least through the middle of 2024. That also means that the ramp from Loughborough to northbound I-55 and the ramps from Germania and Loughborough to northbound 55 will remain closed until the northbound bridge over Union Pacific is complete,” Evers said.

Once the bridge work is finished northbound past Germania, crews will then need to work on the southbound bridges between River Des Peres and Loughborough.

MoDOT said related work on I-55 north of Virginia is still on track to be finished with much of the road reopened before the end of December.