Merchants Bridge is the oldest rail structure over the Mississippi River.
(Photo courtesy of the TRRA)

Railroads greenlight Merchants Bridge replacement

The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) has announced a $172 million construction contract for the rebuilding of its Merchants Bridge between St. Louis, Mo., and Venice, Ill.

The bridge replacement will proceed, even though the project was passed over for federal funding last month by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), the TRRA said in a press release.

The Merchants Bridge, built in 1889 and opened in 1890, is the oldest rail structure over the Mississippi River. The project involves replacement of the bridge’s three main steel-framed spans, traversing the Mississippi River, as well as the east bridge approach in Venice, according to the July 11 statement.

Replacement is necessary to accommodate growing freight volume and meet current railroad standards, according to the TRRA.  

Notably, the new bridge will alleviate an increasingly troublesome “bottleneck” by allowing rail traffic in both directions at the same time, the TRRA adds.

The TRRA had hoped to cover some of the bridge replacement cost through the USDOT’s new $1.5 billion Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program, announced last year by President Donald Trump.

However, the Merchants Bridge was not included in the INFRA program’s first round of grant recipients, announced June 6.

Federal matching share funding — generally provided on a matching share basis with local entities — has come to be considered nearly indispensable for major transportation infrastructure projects.

Under terms outlined in the TRRA’s grant application, the railroad group would directly cover $40 million or 20 percent of the bridge replacement cost out of its own coffers. The USDOT would issue a $75 million grant to the Bi-State Development Agency and the Missouri Department of Transportation to cover another 37.5 percent.

The TRRA would use an $85 million USDOT Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan to cover the final 42.5 percent.

The TRRA is now working with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in St. Louis to finance the rebuilding of the bridge.

After learning of the USDOT’s decision, the “TRRA and its shareholders undertook the difficult decision to fund the Merchants Bridge replacement without federal grant assistance because of the condition of that structure and the adverse impact a non-functioning bridge would have on the nation’s economy,” according to last week’s statement.

The TRRA’s statement did not specify whether the group still anticipated receiving the RRIF loan. However, its INFRA grant application last year noted that the “TRRA is not restricted to the RRIF loan and has other available financing options if required.”

The bridge replacement is expected to take about four years, the TRRA said last week.

Walsh Construction Co., the nation’s largest bridge builder, will be the general contractor. However, the company will work with St. Louis Bridge Construction Co. and other local subcontractors, according to the TRRA statement.

TRRA and Walsh Construction have agreed to incorporate subcontracting opportunities for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises as part of the project.

About 150 workers will be directly employed in reconstruction of the bridge. The project will indirectly support another 1,100 workers, according to the TRRA statement.

The TRRA is the Class III switching and terminal railroad that handles freight train traffic in the railyards of St. Louis and Metro East. It is jointly owned by the five Class I railroads [BNSF, Canadian National Railway (formerly the Illinois Central Railroad), CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific] that serve the region. It serves 80 industrial customers in the St. Louis region.

Fentanyl has replaced heroin as the top cause of drug overdose deaths in Madison and St. Clair counties.

Nightclub quarantined due to fentanyl exposure

A Brooklyn late-hour nightclub was quarantined, July 6, after six or more people were hospitalized due to fentanyl exposure, according to the Illinois State Police.

Among them: two Brooklyn Police officers and an emergency medical technician (EMT), who responded to reports of illness related to a then-unidentified substance at Roxy’s, 210 Madison St., at around 3 a.m.

Also hospitalized, was a bartender and at least two nightclub patrons.

Found in the club were just under five grams of, what lab tests later reveal to be, fentanyl — a synthetic opioid considered 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine and 30 to 50 time stronger that heroin.

So powerful is the drug that Individuals can experience advice effects following inhalation or contact with skin, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency emphasized in a warning to first responders in June 2017.

Though developed exclusively for use with severely ill patients in hospital settings, fentanyl has become popular as a recreational drug on the night club scene around the nation according to the DEA. In some cases, it is also used illicitly, for pain relief, the agency says.

It has now replaced heroin as the top cause of drug overdose deaths in Madison and St. Clair counties, according to health department officials.

So far this year, 33 people have died from overdoses of fentanyl, or mixtures of fentanyl and other drugs, in Madison County; with 12 more In St. Clair County.

Police say the two officers, an EMT, a bartender, and two nightclub patrons were hospitalized after came contact with the drug while trying to administer CPR to someone in the club.

Only one person, who was suspected of intentionally using the fentanyl, remained hospitalized at the Chronicle’s deadline, according to state police.

No one has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Following the incident, the nightclub building, as well as two police cars, underwent decontamination by HAZMAT specialists.

Southern Illinois’ top federal prosecutor steps down

Donald S. Boyce has announced his resignation from the position of active United States attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, effective at midnight on July 21.

Boyce was sworn in to the office on July 8, 2016, after his appointment by then-U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

He was appointed by the judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on Oct. 28, 2016, after no replacement was named by the Obama administration.

Previously, Boyce had served as an assistant U.S. attorney, since 2006, most recently as chief of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force. He is a former St. Louis police officer and St. Louis native.

Boyce cited family reasons for resignation.

President Donald Trump has not announced a nominee his position.

Effective on July 22, Steven D. Weinhoeft will assume the role of acting U.S. States attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. Weinhoeft has served as an assistant United States attorney since 2008, including serving as first assistant U.S. attorney from 2016 to the present.

Prior to joining the United States Attorney’s Office, Weinhoeft served as first assistant in the Sangamon County, State’s Attorney’s Office in his hometown of Springfield.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois is the federal prosecuting office for cases arising in 38 counties in Southern Illinois, an area with a population of approximately 1.2 million people.

The office is headquartered in Fairview Heights and also has branch offices in Benton and East St. Louis. It district is one of three U.S. Attorney’s offices in the State of Illinois

–Metro East Area News Briefs–