The contractor on the Highway 47 Missouri River bridge project has a strong history of building major bridge projects in this region.Last week, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission approved awarding the contract to Alberici Constructors Inc., which submitted the lowest of seven bids on the new Missouri River span between Warren and Franklin counties.Alberici won the contract on a bid of $62,950,000. The Route 47 bridge is Alberici’s third major bridge project for MoDOT in the last five years.Alberici joint ventures recently constructed the Interstate 70 Stan Musial Veterans Memorial bridge over the Mississippi River, and Interstate 40/64 Daniel Boone bridge Project, downstream from the new Route 47 Bridge on the Missouri River.“Alberici is proud to continue supporting MoDOT’s mission of delivering a world-class transportation experience,” LeRoy Stromberg, Alberici chief operating officer, said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to partnering with MoDOT again to deliver the new Route 47 bridge safely, on time, and with the most value to project stakeholders.”Construction will begin this summer and the new bridge is scheduled to open to traffic by November 2018.The project calls for a new 2,560-foot-long bridge to be built just to the west — upstream — from the existing span which was completed in 1936. Judy Wagner, MoDOT area engineer, said last week that the next step will be to meet with the contractor in the next couple of weeks to go over plans and look for ways to possibly reduce the cost. The first work residents will see will be clearing work and development of staging areas, followed by drilling work in the river for new piers. 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 Washington 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.As part of the project, the city of Washington and Franklin and Warren counties are investing in 587 decorative light fixtures comprised of 15,954 individual LED lights, which will illuminate the bridge piers, girders and shared-use path for travelers entering the city at night.The new Route 47 bridge is designed to have a 100-year life with limited maintenance and a variety of unique enhancements. It will be constructed using variable depth, haunched steel girders and fluted bridge piers with architectural reveals.The bridge was designed by HDR, Inc.Alberici Constructors, Inc. is a major North American construction firm serving the civil, energy, building, health care, heavy industrial, manufacturing, water, and automotive industries. In May 2016, Alberici was ranked the 31st largest contractor in the United States by Engineering News-Record with annual revenues of more than $2 billion.Alberici