On March 26 the road to River Valley Animal Food Plant collapsed from what is believed to be very heavy use from the traffic of vehicles in and out of the plant. The cost for the repairs totals $337,000 and Tyson Foods is covering the bill.
The roadway collapsed on March 26 and a contractor of the plant had a real close call, just seeing the collapse at the very last second damaging his pick-up truck, but avoiding injury. Operations at the plant ceased temporarily while our friend Anthony Atkinson and the folks with Cleve Batte Construction went to work on a temporary road for access in and out of the animal food plant.
To replace the roadway and make ready for big rig traffic, the crews with Cleve Batte Construction took 12 railroad cars and cut the ends off, used a crane to place the 20-ton cars in place and welded them together. They then packed them with sand and gravel and finished the roadway off with thick asphalt and now the 80-foot stretch can support traffic up to 50 tons.
Tyson Foods has hundreds of trucks constantly crossing the bridge at all hours, and knowing this, Tyson V.P. of Operations was quoted as saying “It was the right thing to do” in paying for costs to repair the roadway with thousands of trucks using the roadway every month.
SEE PICS OF MC 64 BRIDGE COLLAPSE
The gift from Tyson is a true blessing to the Miller County Roads Department that is already working with a really small budget. The donation of $337,000 covers all of the costs of the repairs.
