Bridge Building Ballet

Imagine trying to build an overpass above one of central Missouri's busiest highways. You'd have to lift long, heavy steel beams across two lanes of highway and affix them to supports while imposing the least possible impact to traffic.

It takes a lot of choreography among people who can move quickly and easily amid seeming chaos. It's a lot like a large-ensemble ballet. And the professionals who set the first four beams for the U.S. 63/Route H overpass in Boone County are virtuoso.

In dance, timing is everything. In this case, everything was timed. The crews' arrival, the delivery of individual beams, the traffic interruptions. Everything had to happen in the correct order.

The beams arrived individually and each was connected to a crane

which hoisted them into place as a captive audience of travelers watched a few minutes of the performance.





Once the beams were aligned safely on the piers, traffic began to move below as carpenters and welders affixed the steel.











Meanwhile, another beam arrived on-site and the dance repeated until all were in place.

Soon, the completed overpass will be just another piece of the local landscape, but several groups of travelers will be able to say they saw this vital movement in the creation of a bridge. Thanks again, U.S. 63 motorists, for your patience!

Smog Running Scared

Beginning this week, St. Louis smog is running scared - not because of Halloween tricks, but due to some very hungry new concrete.

On Monday , a new smog-eating concrete was poured in St. Louis. It's being tested on a 1500-foot stretch of the new Route 141.

The concrete contains an additive that absorbs smog, uses sunlight to break it down and releases it as nitrogen and carbon dioxide. 

Find more pictures on the MoDOT St. Louis's facebook page. Follow the page to watch for more pictures and the results!

Chorus Calling

Happy Earth Day! In honor of all things green, we're sharing a story from our Northeast District and how they created a habitat to help out the chorus frogs.

Last year, some chorus frogs were attempting to live and reproduce in some shallow swales on the north side of the Northeast District office. The frogs were having a tough time -- since the swales didn't hold water for long, any eggs that were laid were quickly dying as the swales dried.

Last fall, roadside operations staff constructed two small, shallow wetlands in place of the swales. They're designed to hold water into mid- or late summer before drying out. This will allow the frogs to successfully reproduce while preventing predatory aquatic insects from reaching high levels. The frogs have found the wetlands and have been calling loudly during the recent warm weather.

An added benefit? Tracks of deer, opossum, raccoon, turkey and other birds have been noticed around the wetlands, indicating other wildlife are finding them useful.

The chorus frogs will stay in the wetlands for a month or so and then spend the rest of the year in the grass, wildflowers and woods surrounding the wetlands.  

Information contributed by Chris Shulse, Roadside Manager for MoDOT's Northeast District.

Cleaning Up

Gov. Jay Nixon presents MoDOT employee Curtis Dowden with  the 2010 Recycling Award.

I guess the older I get, the easier it is to understand why conserving, recycling, and reusing is important to preserving our planet. Now I’m far from being a recycling super hero, but I do try and think green every day. I’m happy to say that my recycling bin is pretty full when disposal services show up at my house every week and nothing gets thrown away from my office that shouldn’t be. Now, there are green efforts… and then there are GREEN efforts.

The Missouri State Recycling Program recently announced this year’s winners for top agency and individual for recycling and waste reduction… and MoDOT swept the awards, again!

Curtis Dowden, a MoDOT senior materials inspector, won the individual award for his recycling efforts. Dowden started a plastics recycling program in Willow Springs and collects about 70 pounds of it every week. Dowden recycles the plastic, which decreases trash hauling costs and waste that would end up in an area landfill. The New Franklin Parkway project helped MoDOT secure the team award. This green effort included removing a bridge crossing the Katy Trail, recycling the demolition debris, and keeping thousands of tons of potential waste from heading to an area landfill.

Every little bit helps, from my weekly 15 or so pounds of recyclable waste to the 70 pounds of plastic Curtis Dowden is committed to collecting. The 10,000 pounds of waste averted from a New Franklin area landfill to the more than 8 billion pounds of waste MoDOT has recycled since 2005. Being green is a goal MoDOT strives to achieve and these statewide recycling awards show the commitment.  

Dirty Trash Equals Clean Cash

My family and I recycle every piece of trash we can, and we pick up trash other people leave on the ground, so I understand the value of taking care of our environment. That’s why it’s so exciting when I hear of things MoDOT is doing to make a difference.

MoDOT Maintenance Superintendent Owen Hasson from our St. Louis District found a way to not only sweep up trash on St. Louis area streets and make them safer for motorists, but to help the environment and save the department tons of clean cash. Thanks to a dedicated sweeping crew and a new mobile screening unit, MoDOT has the potential to reduce its contribution to our urban landfills by up to 90 percent, while at the same time producing usable fill that can be used back on various road operations.

In March this year, crews started using the new screening unit to screen the street sweepings, producing a clean usable fill and reducing landfill debris and disposal costs. One cubic yard of sweepings weighs over one ton and thousands of cubic yards of sweepings are sent to landfills each year. Area landfill companies charge up to $45 a ton to dispose of sweeping debris. Hasson worked with the Department of Natural Resources to approve the usable fill.

So far this year, night sweeping crews have picked up 2,224 cubic yards of road debris. To haul this debris straight to the landfill would have cost more than $131,000. By filtering out the sweeping debris and reusing the cleaned sweepings, the disposal cost is reduced to under $20,000, saving $101,000 in landfill fees from these night crews alone.

Night crews represent only a fraction of the debris swept up in the St. Louis area. During the day, routine maintenance crews sweep up debris from the other major roads in the area and dump that debris at their buildings to be screened by the mobile screening unit.

Hopefully this process can be expanded in other areas to save even more money and reduce what goes to our landfill. Kudos to our St. Louis Area District and Owen Hasson for looking for creative ways to save money and help the environment!

Being Green

Any environmental conscience statistic or answer I get that’s in the billions tells me something impressive is going on – so when I heard that the Missouri Department of Transportation has recycled more than 8.4 billion pounds of waste since 2005 I about fell off my chair. Click here for news release.

MoDOT has recycled in two ways in order to get to the 8.4 billion pound mark. The first involves industrial waste coming from mines, steel furnaces and power plants. This waste that normally goes directly to landfills has been collected and recycled, which over the past 5 years has totaled 3.56 billion. I called a few landfill managers here in Missouri and I found out 3.56 billion pounds of waste would fill the Empire State Building 4 times! To recycle is one thing, but to do it so aggressively that it removes the equivalent of 89,000 semi-truck loads from area landfills is another.

The biggest way MoDOT recycles is by reusing material. Instead of throwing away concrete and asphalt from old projects, we use the material again on new projects. Since 2005, MoDOT has recycled 4.86 billion pounds of reclaimed material that goes directly to new construction projects. This not only saves our environment, but saves taxpayer money too. I’m sure many of the highway miles you travel on contain reclaimed material.

It’s good to know that billions of pounds of waste are not sitting in a landfill and my tax dollars are getting used wisely when state roads get improved. Being environmentally aware is a good thing to be and I’m glad MoDOT is a leader when it comes to being green.

Leaner, Cleaner and Greener

The carbon footprint just got a little smaller in Poplar Bluff and Warrensburg.

MoDOT's Transit Unit used a federal grant to help two local public transportation agencies in these communities purchase a new hybrid vehicle that promises to run cleaner and cheaper than standard buses. Missouri is one of the first states to introduce hybrid technoliges on rural transit routes.

The buses have the potential to reduce fuel use by up to 40 percent, lower maintenance costs by 30 percent and reduce emissions by up to 30 percent.

Watch below to see how the Poplar Bluff community is enjoying their leaner, greener bus.

The House that Cans Built

When you recycle, you really can make a difference.

Aluminum cans recycled from Amtrak Missouri River Runner trains will now be donated to the River City Habitat for Humanity in Jefferson City, Mo., to help build a house for a deserving family.

Starting this week, aluminum cans collected from the twice-daily St. Louis-Kansas City service will be dropped off daily at the capital city Amtrak station. The River City Habitat for Humanity's Aluminum Can Recycling Committee will use the proceeds from the cans on a home currently under construction at 815 Montana in Jefferson City. The project is known as the "house that cans built" because it's primarily funded by the group's recycling committee and programs such as this one by Amtrak passengers.

"Amtrak is one of the most environmentally friendly modes of transportation and we are striving to make it even greener in Missouri," said MoDOT Rail Administrator Rod Massman. "By implementing a recycling program, we will reduce waste and help protect the environment. At the same time, we will help a family realize the American dream of owning a home."

Eco-savvy Amtrak riders can now recycle aluminum cans across the national network of Amtrak trains. Amtrak is committed to making recycling an integral part of train travel and strives to protect the environment and conserve its resources by reusing material, recycling waste and preventing pollution.

Batty for Earth Day

Here is a story I learned of from our Southwest District Office that just screeches to be told this Earth Day:

Once upon a time ... well, ok, in 2004, there was a cave in McDonald County that was becoming popular for curious people - a little too popular, really. The current residents of the cave, such as bats and salamanders, were struggling to survive due to frequent visits from humans. The cave also wasn't considered structurally sound for explorers.

MoDOT heeded the recommendation from the Missouri Department of Conservation to install a gate -- something to keep people out but allow the bats to come and go freely from their home. The gate also allows the natural stream inside to flow as it has for thousands of years.

"The Conservation Department suggested we use angled steel because bats use sonar to navigate their way," said Senior Biological Specialist Alan Leary. "Sound bounces off the angled steel and guides bats through the gate. Rebar, which isn't angled, would affect the sonar, causing the bats to harm themselves trying to get in or out of the gate. They would leave the cave, thus affecting the cave's ecosystem and environment."

Prior to the gate's installation, the highest number of bats reported in the cave was about 25, mostly the Eastern Pipestrelle.

Leary said there were also reports of salamander larvae in the cave that probably would not have lived to adulthood because of the human disturbances.

Here comes the happy ending: In January 2010, Leary visited the cave and saw more than 250 Eastern Pipestrelles and four adult Ozark blind salamanders, also known as grotto salamanders.

"MoDOT normally isn't popular with cavers and spelunkers," Leary said, "but I think installing the gate to save the cave and its animals has mended those relationships. And we always like to do positive things for the environment."

And they lived happily ever after. Happy Earth Day!

Why Did You Do It?

Why did you do it?

Can anyone say they have never littered? We are all probably guilty of this at some point, but this video takes away all of your excuses. Keep Missouri litter-free, and feel free to pick up that soda can someone else may have left behind.

And a special shout-out to those who participated in this spring's No MOre Trash Bash. Congratulations on picking up 111,000 bags of trash!

Breathe Easier

Some people say government is full of hot air. With MoDOT and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources working together to reduce diesel emissions, our air will be easier to breathe.

The departments have joined forces to improve air quality and public health in the state's metropolitan areas. MoDNR will administer a grant that helps MoDOT retrofit more than 130 vehicles with technology that reduces pollutants.

Emissions will drop by 288 tons per year - enough to fill 427 Goodyear blimps. Updates for the fleet will also mean better fuel efficiency.
Blue skies all around!

Giving Green to Get the Green

Recycle, reduce pollution, use alternative fuels, and get cash back. What better incentive does a contractor need?

A new pilot green incentive program allows MoDOT contractors to receive "green credits" for using environmentally friendly practices during a project. Awards are received for meeting a green credit goal and additional award levels are available for exceeding the goal.

Meet the green credit goal: Redbud award - $5,000 bonus
Exceed goal by five credits: Hawthorn award - $10,000 bonus
Exceet goal by ten credits: Dogwood award - $15,000 bonus


The flip side is that a contractor not meeting their goal will actually lose green - they will pay a charge per credit that they are short. One more reason to keep that recycling bucket handy.

Being Green

With temperatures reaching nearly 90 degrees, more than 1,200 fifth graders attended Earth Day 2009 in Jefferson City on April 24. Visitors to MoDOT’s tent received a white pine tree seedling, learned about the No MOre Trash program, signed a No MOre Trash litter pledge and played a ring toss game requiring each player to answer a litter-prevention question.

In case you missed the ring toss ...
How long does it take a plastic milk container to decompose? (one million years!)
What is the maximum fine for littering along Missouri highways? ($1,000 and/or one year in jail)

Learn more about how MoDOT is Being Green.