Upcoming in Kansas City, Mo.
Replacing a Missouri River Bridge
presentation by Lanny Miller, P.E., Project Manager for American Bridge Company.
Lanny will give an overview of the US69 Missouri River Bridge Replacement project (Fairfax Bridge) and discuss the project construction to date with particular emphasis on the old Fairfax Bridge demolition.

On January 24, 2015, the Fairfax Bridge (US 69 in Kansas City) was demolished to make way for a new span.
Presentation by Lanny Miller, P.D., Project Manager, American Bridge Company.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Where – Westport Coffeehouse Theater – 4010 Pennsylvania Ave. Kansas City, MO
6 p.m. – Social Hour
7 p.m. – Presentation. Presentation will be filmed – After 7 PM, Please enter through Green Room Burgers
PLUS – This presentation will be streaming live on KCDV.tv!
(See past videos here)
Presentation is FREE and open to the public!
The southbound Route 69 Bridge, commonly referred to as the Fairfax Bridge, was built in 1933. The northbound Route 69 Bridge, commonly referred to as the Platte Purchase Bridge, was built in 1957. Both were built to accommodate the type, size, and weight of vehicles at the time of construction, and were not designed for the high volume and heavy weight limits of truck traffic that you typically find today within the heavy industrial zone where these bridges are located. Narrow lanes and load limitations restrict the use of each bridge by overweight and oversized vehicles. Because of their age, both structures require frequent maintenance and costly repairs, causing motorists further delay.
Lanny will give an overview of the US69 Missouri River Bridge Replacement project and discuss the project construction to date with particular emphasis on the old Fairfax Bridge demolition.
Lanny Miller is a Senior Project Manager for American Bridge Company. He graduated with a civil engineering degree from KSU. Lanny has been with American Bridge for the past 5 years and has a total of 23 years of experience in Heavy/Highway design and construction.
Directions
Westport CoffeeHouse – 4010 Pennsylvania Kansas City, Mo – www.westportcoffeehouse.com
The Westport CoffeeHouse is in the Westport entertainment area, midtown KC, south of downtown and north of the Plaza. The main intersection is Westport Rd and Broadway. From this intersection, go west on Westport Rd one block to Pennsylvania. Turn north (right).
OR you can get there from the intersection of Southwest Trafficway and Westport Rd. Go east on Westport Rd to Pennsylvania. Turn north (left).
Westport Coffee House is approximately one block down on the west side of Pennsylvania. Parking can be had either south of the coffee house in the large parking lot or just north of the coffee house alongside the building. Enter through Green Room Burgers or Westport CoffeeHouse.
Resources and Links
Dig deeper for more info.
- Mo. Dept. of Transportation Portal on US69 – Fairfax Bridge Project (links to video, photos and more)
- Video of Fairfax Bridge Demolition by Curious Eye Productions
- Video and Slideshow from Kansas City Star.
The Big Muddy Speakers Series in Kansas City
is hosted by these wonderful partners!
- Little Blue River Watershed Coalition
- Friends of Lakeside Nature Center
- Missouri River Relief
- Healthy Rivers Partnership
- Friends of Big Muddy
- Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge
- Kansas City Digital Video
Thanks to all of our venue hosts for making this possible! Click here for a list of upcoming presentations» The Big Muddy Speaker Series is also held monthly in Rocheport and St. Charles.
Recordings of Presentations
Kansas City Digital Video has been recording Big Muddy Speaker Series presentations. These are available on their website at this link. Some contain synchronized powerpoint presentations. We will be posting these to the archived presentation pages on bigmuddyspeakers.org. Thanks Micheal Morgan and crew for putting this important archive online! The Big Muddy Speaker Series is partially funded by the Columbia Ecological Services Field Office (USFWS) and the Mo. Dept. of Conservation.