A tentative date for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on the new Highway 47 bridge over the Missouri River is Saturday, Dec. 1.That’s according to Judy Wagner, Missouri Department of Transportation area engineer, who explained that precipitation could play a factor in keeping that date.“As the date gets closer we will know when the new bridge will actually open,” she said. “This is still dependent on the weather over the next few months.”The ceremony is slated to begin at 3 p.m., she added.Officials from MoDOT, the city of Washington and Warren County are continuing plans for the ceremony, which include an opportunity for the public to walk on the new bridge before it opens to traffic.There also may be a bridge illuminating ceremony, and sometime in 2019, possibly in the spring, a third ceremony will be held when the old bridge is demolished.Girders in placeThe final girder was installed at the bridge June 9, which means the project will be much less impacted by river levels.“It takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the river elevation now,” Wagner told the Washington Area Transportation Committee Monday.“Basically everything is going to be coming in by truck,” she added. “Now it’s just the stuff that falls from the sky on the site that has a potential of delaying our opening.”Wagner said the placement of the girders is a major milestone for the project.“The ironworkers put the evergreen up there to signify the completion of the superstructure steel with no loss of lives,” she said. “And we had our safety celebration meeting after that.”Work updateWagner said crews will begin working from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., instead of later in the day, due to higher summer temperatures.“Some crews may be working longer shifts to meet deadlines,” she added.According to Wagner, the general contractor, MoDOT and subcontractors are coordinating transferring conduit to the new bridge.“Lighting is probably the biggest challenge right now,” she said, “but it is nothing I can’t see us working out.”The contractor for the $63 million bridge project is Alberici Constructors.Project detailsThe project involves building a new 2,560-foot-long bridge just to the west — upstream — from the existing span, which was completed in 1936.The new structure is designed with two 12-foot driving lanes, two 10-foot shoulders and a 10-foot-wide biking/walking path along the west side. An overlook, where walkers and bikers can stop and view the river and cityscape, will be at the center bridge pier.The new bridge path will connect to a biking/walking path along Highway 47, north of the river, which ties into the state’s Katy Trail, one of the longest continuous bicycle trails in the United States.DemolishAlberici Constructors will own the current bridge after the new structure is completed.The company likely won’t allow any type of celebration on the bridge for liability concerns. That includes an organized run or dinner on the bridge deck.Once the new bridge is opened, crews will work to remove salvageable pieces before the current bridge is imploded into the Missouri River.After the old bridge is taken down, paths, walking paths and parking planned for below the bridge will be opened.Bridge construction