Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 18, 1993                   TAG: 9312180077
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NS REPLACING MISS. BRIDGE

The Coast Guard has ordered the river closed to boats in the vicinity of Hannibal from Thursday through Sunday while the $13 million worth of bridge work is completed.

The old swing bridge at Hannibal will be floated out and replaced with a vertical-lift bridge that the railroad once used 600 miles away, on the Tennessee River at Florence, Ala.

The new bridge is 406-feet long and weighs 2.5 million pounds. It will raise about 40 feet to clear river traffic.

The work will lead to a widening of the river channel, which should make navigation on the river safer and easier, NS said. Over the years, river barges had struck the old bridge on numerous occasions.

It has been estimated that reusing the old bridge will save roughly $1 million and 12 months of construction time.

The Coast Guard will reimburse NS for all but $2 million of the costs.