After more than two years and $8.5 million, work on the Brownville Bridge over the Missouri River on US-136 Highway will open for two way traffic starting the week of December 26th, weather permitting.

The Missouri Department of Transportation announced the temporary traffic signals will be removed and the bridge will once again return to two-way traffic.

The work on the Brownville Bridge has been underway since September 2009. Cramer and Associates of Des Moines, Iowa were awarded the contract for this work. The final cost for this project is estimated at just under $8.5 million. The cost of the project is shared between the Nebraska Department of Roads and MoDOT. This project was also a part of the President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The contract included a new bridge deck, repairs to the structure, and bridge painting. Because the bridge serves as a vital link between Missouri and Nebraska, the improvements were done in staged construction which allowed the bridge to remain open to traffic during construction, except for some weekend closures.

The original completion date of the bridge was scheduled for December 1st, but this year’s flooding delayed the project when the contractor could not work under the bridge. During the 2012 construction season, the contractor will return to the bridge and work briefly to perform the final repairs. MoDOT will also take the opportunity to seal the bridge at that time. The bridge will be narrowed to one-way traffic for a one to two week time period while this work is completed.