Economic Impact for the Region of Replacement of the Merchants Bridge

The Merchants Memorial Mississippi Rail Bridge is a 123 year old, 4,632 foot, double track railroad bridge located just north of downtown St. Louis. The bridge is owned and utilized by the six Class I railroads operating in the area and Amtrak. It is one of two railroad bridges to cross the Mississippi into St. Louis and it is severely congested. The bridge currently carries more than 28 million gross tons of the 150 million tons crossing over the Mississippi river each year into St. Louis. The Merchants Bridge has been designated as a crossing for the Chicago-St. Louis-Kansas City High Speed Rail Corridor for use by Amtrak. A fully operational two-track Merchants Bridge is anticipated to carry more than 50 million gross tons per year and be able to absorb increasing demand going forward. While the cost estimates to replace the bridge range from $215 million to $500 million, there has not been an adequate study of the economic benefits to the region for making this infrastructure investment. This project seeks to provide the economic benefits that will accrue to the region as a result of refurbishment of this bridge and to improve rail traffic through the St. Louis region.

• Record URL:
  http://intrans.iastate.edu/mtc/index.cfm/research/project/project/-1899404928
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis ($25,000.00) University of Missouri - Saint Louis ($20,000.00) USDOT/OST-R ($25,000.00) Total: $70,000.00

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $70000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  DTRT13-G-UTC37

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis

  415 South 18th Street, Suite 200
  St. Louis, Missouri  United States  63103

  University of Missouri, St. Louis

  One University Boulevard
  St. Louis, MO  United States  63121-4400

  Department of Transportation

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Missouri, St. Louis

  One University Boulevard
  St. Louis, MO  United States  63121-4400
• Principal Investigators:

  Mundy, Ray

• Start Date: 20150101
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20151231
• Source Data: RiP Project 39377

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Economic impacts; Infrastructure; Investments; Railroad bridges; Railroad traffic
• Geographic Terms: Mississippi River; Saint Louis (Missouri)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Economics; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01560404
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Midwest Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: DTRT13-G-UTC37
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Apr 15 2015 1:01AM