Work crews from Union Pacific Railroad have begun a lengthy repair project.
This month, 40 miles of the rail line from Jefferson City to St. Louis will be upgraded.
"It's part of our regular maintenance and capital improvement work that we do every year all over the country," said Union Pacific Spokesman Jeff Degraff. "We should be wrapping up this work around the 18th or 20th."
Crews will be changing more than 80,000 rail ties on the project.
"Rail ties have a life span, and we need to make sure the tracks stay safe," Degraff said. "Ties can last 10-20 years, depending on the materials that are used. We do inspections regularly, and we also look at the steel to make sure it's in good shape. If they get worn out quicker than normal, we'll change them out."
Degraff said they have a department that's dedicated to do these projects.
"They are made up of what we call gangs," he said. "These are crews put together to go change the ties and rails as needed. Once they wrap up this job, they'll head to another section of our lines in another part of the country."
Degraff said the safety of the work crews on the tracks is imperative so they coordinate repair to make sure regular train service along the route continues.
"Finding windows of time so crews can do their work can be a challenge," he said.
The project costs approximately $14 million.