The Centennial bridge closed Sunday morning, August 3. The bridge will be closed for 35 days in a row and reopen Saturday, September 6.
Construction workers started in June 2014 replacing beams under the bridge. Drivers experienced some lane closures during the process, and the entire bridge was supposed to close for 35 days starting Monday, July 28, but that was delayed.
The Illinois Department of Transportation said drivers will be detoured on US 61 and IL 92 to the I-280 crossing of the Mississippi River. The sidewalk will stay open throughout the duration of the project.
Before repairs began, Illinois Department of Transportation engineer John Wegmeyer said there were holes rusted in some of the bridge’s beams. He said the replacements needed to happen or inconvenient restrictions would have been placed on the bridge.
“The beams that we are replacing are in bad shape, and if we don’t do something this summer, we either have to put severe weight restrictions on, or limit vehicles that can go across, or close the bridge,” Wegmeyer said.
The project includes workers making concrete repairs to many of the piers and the deck as well as making extensive steel repairs to the bridge.