Drilling work on the first pier of the new Highway 47 Missouri River bridge should begin next week, a Missouri Department of Transportation official said.“The contractor is moving along. We’re on schedule with everything; we’re doing well,” Judy Wagner, MoDOT area engineer for Franklin and Jefferson counties, reported this week. Wagner remarked that the current low level of the Missouri River is helping with the progress. The bridge contractor, Alberici Constructors Inc., currently is working on the Warren County side of the river constructing the foundations and extending the rock causeway out past the shoreline.On Tuesday and Wednesday, MoDOT closed a section of the southbound lane on the existing bridge as crews were driving sheet piles in the shafts for the footings due to soil conditions, Wagner said.The sheet pilings are a safety measure implemented by the contractor, she explained.When the first pier is drilled, starting next week, it will be near the water’s edge.The shaft, or vent, for each pier will be drilled to a depth of between 30 and 50 feet to reach bedrock, Wagner said.Wagner said she recently toured the construction site to view the progress.Alberici crews began work on the $63 million project in mid-August after the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded the contract.The 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, is proposed 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.The new bridge, designed by HDR, Inc., will have a 100-year life with limited maintenance and a variety of unique enhancements, including variable depth, haunched steel girders and fluted bridge piers with architectural reveals.The new bridge is scheduled to be open to traffic by November 2018.Demolition of the old bridge and finishing touches on the project will be completed in 2019.MODOT