The Mighty Mo did its darnedest, but it couldn’t stop construction of the $32 million concrete bridge that now serves as the new gateway to Richardson County and the river town of Rulo, connecting Missouri and Nebraska. During the past three years, Missouri River Water stranded construction barges, flooded nearby roads, damaged cofferdams and kept workers at bay for months at a time.
Construction of the bridge began in August of 2010 and was finally completed this September. Bridge construction took place during three of the top 10 high-water years on the Missouri, including the devastating flood of 2011, and the project was completed only a year behind schedule.
The Rulo bridge project included work from three NEBCO companies. Southeast Ready Mixed supplied 10,350 cu. yds. of concrete for the bridge, as well as all of the concrete for the new paving on roadways leading up to and around the Rulo Bridge. Constructors handled the concrete pour for the roads inside Rulo as well as on Highway 159. In total, there was over 24,000 sq. yds. of 8″ and 9″ concrete paving. Concrete Industries supplied 46 concrete girders totaling 6,400 feet for the approach slabs on both the Nebraska and Missouri side of the bridge, 3,200 linear feet of reinforced concrete pipe for various projects around the bridge, and 25 tons of rebar used on culverts.
The 2,400-foot concrete bridge replaces an iron bridge that was built in 1938-39. The old bridge is located about 650 feet away from the the newly constructed bridge.