David Musser is a MoDOT project engineer, along with Ken Warbritton, who is in charge of MoDOT's new Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement team.

In five years, MoDOT will fix or replace more than 800 bridges. There's at least one bridge in every county, and Callaway County has a dozen.

The Auxvasse Creek bridge is the middle bridge of three in a nine mile area. Missouri drivers will have to get used to a bit of inconvenience.

Bob Brendel says MoDOT's effort will be well-coordinated with one complicated contract.

"Obviously if we have a bridge on a busy school bus route, they'll do that during the summer, common sense, common sense...," said Brendel.

"You have designers, contractors, large development companies, financial people in New York to get finances secured and then a maintenance company to maintain those structures for 25 years," said Warbritton. "You have a 30-year mortgage, but if your contractor had to come in and design and build your house and not get paid until you move in and then make sure the house is satisfactory for 25 years, that's what we're doing."

Safe and Sound isn't a result of the Minnesota bridge collapse, but that tragedy certainly highlights the need for better bridges, not only in Missouri, but across the country. KOMU will keep you updated on when the bridge repairs begin.