Drivers crossing the Mississippi River at Hannibal, Missouri, face a slower, narrower trip from today. Weather permitting, a bridge washing project begins Thursday, November 12, on the Interstate 72 Mark Twain Memorial Bridge, and traffic will be reduced to one lane with a 12-foot width restriction in place wherever crews are actively working, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says.
Source: Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), Nov. 9, 2026
The work is preventative maintenance and cleaning on the bridge's deck, rails, drains and superstructure — the unglamorous upkeep that keeps a major river crossing sound. The $194,500 contract was awarded to AAD Contracting, Inc., and operations are tentatively scheduled to be completed before the Thanksgiving holiday, as early as Friday, November 20. All work is weather-dependent, and schedules are subject to change.
What it means for drivers and freight
The bridge itself stays open — traffic can still use the crossing — but it moves in a single lane past the active work area, and the 12-foot width restriction is the number that matters most for commercial operators. Any load wider than 12 feet has to be planned around the work area while the restriction is in force, and MoDOT has not published a daily lane-closure schedule, so conditions can change day to day with the weather and the crew's position on the bridge.
MoDOT directs drivers to its Traveler Information Map for current work-zone conditions, and lists its Customer Center at 1-888-ASK MODOT (275-6636) for project information. For truckers running the I-72 and U.S. 36 corridor between Missouri and Illinois — a working freight route across the northern Mississippi — checking the map before the Hannibal crossing is the practical step this week and next.
A crossing with a recent repair history
Hannibal's river crossing has already had one major season of work in the recent past. MoDOT's earlier bridge rehabilitation project on the same structure — essential structural and bearing repairs — reduced traffic to one lane with a 12-foot width restriction from May 12, 2025, then closed the bridge entirely for up to 30 days from May 30, 2025, because that stage of the work could not be done under traffic. Contractor Millstone Weber, LLC finished well ahead of schedule and the bridge reopened to one lane in each direction on June 17, 2025, with lane reductions remaining while cleanup work finished.
That history is why MoDOT frames work like this week's washing so carefully: the 2025 repairs were made to prevent further deterioration of the bridge, in a season when summer heat adds stress that can widen existing cracks and create new ones. Washing the deck, rails, drains and superstructure is the routine end of the same discipline — cleaning and inspection access that keeps small problems from becoming structural ones.
Traffic will be reduced to one lane with a 12-foot width restriction in place at the location where crews are actively working. All work is weather-dependent, and schedules are subject to change.
The Mark Twain Memorial Bridge carries I-72 and U.S. 36 over the Mississippi between Hannibal — Mark Twain's hometown — and western Illinois. It is the river link for commuters, farm and freight traffic moving between northeast Missouri and Illinois, which is why even a one-lane maintenance window draws attention on both banks.
What happens next: crews work through the crossing section by section, with the single open lane and the 12-foot restriction following the active work area. If the weather cooperates, MoDOT expects the job done as early as Friday, November 20, ahead of Thanksgiving travel. If it does not, the schedule slips — and the Traveler Information Map remains the live source for the restriction's status.
For Punjabi truckers and other commercial drivers who cross at Hannibal, the takeaway is simple: from November 12 the bridge is a one-lane, 12-foot-maximum crossing at the work zone. Standard loads pass with patience; oversize loads need a plan before they reach the river.