Merchants Bridge Main Span Trusses & East Approach Replacement Engineers Honored at AREMA 2023 General Session
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor, Railway Track & Structures
The engineers who worked on the Merchants Bridge Main Span Trusses & East Approach Replacement in St. Louis, Missouri received the Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence.
Featured on the cover of the RT&S June 2023 issue, the reconstruction of the Merchants Bridge Main Span Trusses & East Approach Replacement was honored as a top project. Now, the engineers who worked on the Merchants Bridge Main Span Trusses & East Approach Replacement in St. Louis, Missouri received the Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence.
During the AREMA 2023 Annual Conference general session on Monday, October 2nd, the engineers were honored for their work on the historic bridge as well as for their work in overcoming challenges and staying on budget and on time.
Owned by the Terminal Railroad of St. Louis, or TRRA, the bridge work included a replacement of three 523’ main river truss spans, along with a gantry system with strand jacks to lift and slide the old and new truss spans. Crews had to remove the existing truss, which weighed 3.9 million pounds, and install new truss, weighing in at 9 million pounds.
The success of this top project was in its coordination and collaboration between all parties, and more details on the work involved can be found in our Top Projects article of our June 2023 issue.
