MoDOT: I-470 repairs to be finished no later than Sept. 15

LEE'S SUMMIT, Missouri - Officials with the Missouri Department of Transportation say repairs to westbound Interstate 470 at the 3 Trails Crossing, formerly the Grandview Triangle, will be completed no later than Sept. 15.

Construction began Thursday following the award of the emergency contract to Pyramid Contractors, Inc. of Olathe, Kansas.

The contract contains incentives and penalties to encourage quick work, according to MoDOT.

Each day beyond the target opening date that the four-lane highway link is not open will cost the contractor $40,000, and each day the link opens sooner than Sept. 15, the contractor receives $40,000 up to $1 million.

MoDOT awarded the $4.46 million emergency contract Thursday afternoon to construct a 225-foot bridge extension over the buckling highway.

The bridge extension will be anchored directly into the bedrock to prevent another collapse. Once finished, the new structure should connect seamlessly to the existing, undamaged lengths of I-470.

On July 17, a segment of westbound I-470 to westbound I-435 collapsed. MoDOT immediately closed the highway section and redirected traffic to other routes.

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Engineers and technicians quickly gathered to determine the cause and initiate a process to fix the problem. By Wednesday, MoDOT had determined a solution to be a bridge extension.