By Lewis Diuguid, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Every trip over the Paseo Bridge now reconnects me with my childhood in St. Louis.

Rising 215 feet above the Missouri River are the legs of what will be the delta-shaped pylon supporting the new bridge carrying Interstate 29/35 traffic. As it has grown taller with the construction, I am reminded of watching the St. Louis Arch being built.

The Arch construction started in February 1963 and was completed in October 1965. Even from schoolyards, it was breathtaking to see the separate legs of the steel-and-concrete rise 630 feet above the Mississippi River.

Crawler cranes on the backs of the stainless steel exterior knitted the legs together.

The new bridge has been equally cool to watch. It’s anchored in bedrock about 100 feet below the surface of the Missouri River. Construction began in April 2008.

The Christopher S. Bond Bridge is about two-thirds done. When finished, it will be 316 feet high.

Anchor boxes, which will hold the bridge’s supporting cables, are being added now. Like the St. Louis Arch, the project is going slowly.

Each section is carefully measured, and the steel bars inside the concrete must be secured individually before the concrete is poured. The concrete’s currying process takes time. It has to be firmly set before the next section can begin.

It is an engineering marvel. No elevators will run inside the delta legs as the Arch has, however, the structure has to be strong enough to carry more than 100,000 cars and trucks a day across the Missouri River.

The good news is that the work is proceeding on schedule. The Kansas City area’s largest diamond will be fully formed by the spring of 2010.

Expansive struts help hold the sections together so they’ll meet at the top. I remember seeing the St. Louis Arch with a similar joining mechanism.

One of the three temporary struts on the diamond near the Paseo Bridge carries a positive message for Kansas City commuters and people traveling through the area: “Building Up Kansas City.”

Jennifer Benefield, project spokeswoman with the Missouri Department of Transportation, said there is a literal and symbolic message embedded in those words. The bridge is being built to accommodate the increasing traffic flowing between the Northland and the city south of the Missouri River. The diamond is a daily reminder that this transportation project is improving Kansas City’s infrastructure and creating good-paying jobs for hard working people. It’s lifting the community in the process of building the bridge.

The span has an iconic nature, which people who’ll use it should feel each time they travel to the Northland or the city south of the river. Designers hope the new portal will boost impressions of both sides of the river.

When completed, Benefield said the entire highway project will cost $245 million including 4.7 miles of construction on the interstate. The highway will be widened from four divided lanes to six with new exits. The bridge part of the cost is about $100 million.

Drivers will have to be patient with more changes and likely traffic tie ups.
Travelers who regularly use the Paseo Bridge are encouraged to go to kcicon.com to learn more about the changes and possible alternate routes. The project also has its own Facebook page with more than 800 fans at http://www.facebook.com/pages/kcICON-Project/ 111952296899.

Like that little kid who loved gawking at the Arch construction, I look forward to watching the progress of the Bond bridge. I took my daughters when they were children to the top of the Arch.

I can’t wait to drive over the new bridge when it’s done and brag like a kid again on having seen it reach to the sky.

Lewis W. Diuguid is a member of The Star’s Editorial Board. To reach him, call 816-234-4723 or send e-mail to