In the last 15 months, the Missouri Department of Transportation has made it one-fourth of the way to its goal of 802 new and improved bridges in five years.

When the Route JJ bridge over Richland Creek in Morgan County opened recently, it was the 200th bridge completed under MoDOT’s Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement Program.

The old bridge was a steel thru-truss bridge that was 53 years old and 20 ft wide - enough for only one lane.

The new structure utilizes concrete beams covered by an asphalt driving surface and is 26 ft wide - able to accommodate two lanes. Construction began July 6 and was completed more than a week ahead of schedule.

It was also the 55th new bridge built by KTU Constructors, MoDOT’s design-build contractor who is responsible for building 554 bridges on the Safe & Sound program.

Since the first Safe & Sound bridge project was completed in April 2009, MoDOT has been reopening a new bridge every two-and-a-half days. The average bridge closure has been 40-45 days.