What's It Cost to Replace the River Des Peres Bridge at Dielman Road?

St. Louis County calls it "Bridge No. 238." A website that collects information from the U.S. National Bridge Inventory calls it one of its "ugly bridges."

Drivers on the north side of Olivette near the border with Overland just know it's the Dielman Road bridge over the River Des Peres. And for now, it's not there.

A $391,949 project to replace the bridge spanning the gully that contains the River Des Peres started June 17 with the closure of the road and setting up detour markers advising drivers to take Woodson Road or Warson/Ashby roads.

The next day, the heavy equipment came in and started dismantling the 43-year-old bridge that, at last report (in 2008) carried nearly 7,900 vehicles over the river.

A traffic engineer from the St. Louis County Highway & Traffic division told Patch this week that construction was on schedule and should be wrapped up in August. The official word is that the project could take three months, and road officials caution that weather could affect that timeline.

The Dielman bridge is among those listed on a site called UglyBridges.com, which catalogs information from the National Bridge Inventory, "a database maintained by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration that compiles bridge information and inspection reports for every state."

RELATED: County Plans for Dielman Bridge Work Despite Emergency Vehicle Worries

UglyBridges.com says inspections of Dielman in 2010 and 2000 recommended "replacement of bridge or other structure because of substandard load carrying capacity or substantial bridge roadway geometry."