Missouri Bridge to Test Concrete Technology

A new highway bridge east of Jefferson City will serve as an experiment in concrete technology.

Missouri University of Science and Technology has worked with state highway officials to develop several different mixtures of concrete that are being used on the U.S. 50 bridge.

Engineering professor John Myers says sensors are being embedded in the different concrete mixtures to monitor how they perform.

One span of the bridge will use a traditional concrete mixture while another will use a self-consolidating mixture. A third span will use a high-strength, self-consolidating mixture that includes finer rock and chemicals designed to allow the cement to more easily flow into every corner of a form.

The bridge work is to be completed this fall.