(PERRY COUNTY, MO) - The Missouri Department of Transportation is taking steps to reopen the Chester Bridge. If all goes well, MoDOT says they are tentatively planning to reopen the Chester Bridge this Saturday afternoon. But there are a lot of steps that have to take place before that can happen.
Crews must first perform a safety inspection and any repairs to the roadway from the standing water, and where the floodgates were lowered down into place, cutting the pavement to form a water tight seal.
MoDot says don't hang your hat on the idea that the bridge will for sure open up this Saturday afternoon, because plans to reopen the bridge might change based upon the result of that inspection and the weather. The Chester Bridge has been closed since June 2.
The river levels are moving in the right direction for the first time in months. The Mississippi River is expected to drop from Major to Moderate category by Sunday or Monday of next week, and then potentially drop down to the Minor flood category sometime between June 28th and June 30th.