Missouri was really eager to get bragging rights on this whole “shovel-ready” thing. The governor and various other officials, including state transportation director Pete Rahn, staked out a rural bridge yesterday while Obama prepared to sign the stimulus bill. As soon as the presidential nib came up from the page, the $8.5 million project to replace the Route 17 bridge over the Osage River near Tuscumbia was officially underway. The state tendered a check for slightly over $200,000 to the contractor on the project and a backhoe immediately started digging a hole for a pylon.
According to Rahn, the firm was about to lay off a employees and the stimulus allowed them to hire instead. “There were a lot of happy construction workers,” he said later. He expects the project will create a total of 250 jobs.
Of course, it’s also worth noting that the bridge is not exactly a crucial artery – it serves a town of about 200 people and, according to local paper, is “so remote that Missouri transportation officials brought a special satellite truck to allow highway commissioners to meet and award the bridge construction contract.” We don’t know exactly what that means, but it does sound pretty remote.
