Gateway Dredging: A 40-Plus Year Commitment To Independence Day Fireworks In St. Charles, Mo.

Each Fourth of July, thousands gather along the Missouri River in St. Charles, Mo., for one of the region’s most anticipated events—the annual fireworks display. While many are captivated by the display overhead, few realize the intricate, decades-long history behind what makes it all possible. That history includes Gateway Dredging, a company with deep roots in the area and a legacy of community service.

Terry Bangert, a longtime leader at Gateway Dredging, offered a window into that history. “I guess to answer your question for the city of St. Charles,” he said with a smile, “I’ve been talking to our old-timers, and we’re thinking ’77 or ’78. That was our first year with the St. Charles Jaycees.”

Back then, Gateway Dredging was known as Limited Leasing. The company first started with the annual event by helping the Jaycees and volunteer firefighters move the fireworks display from Blanchette Park—where close calls and safety concerns prompted a change—to the riverfront. “I think one went off near the crowd,” Bangert explained. “They wanted to use the river to get a little separation from hurting anybody.”

Their payment in those early years? “A couple cases of beer,” Bangert said with a laugh. “That was it. We put out a barge or two, probably had a towboat just holding the tow out in the river. It was a simple 16- to 18-minute show.”

The operation in those early days was surprisingly hands-on. Firefighters stood on the barge, dropping fireworks into a handful of tubes. “They hand-lit the wick and jumped over the sand berm for protection. There were a few fire extinguishers in case anyone got lit up. It was primitive, but memorable.”

Those grassroots beginnings gave way to a long-standing relationship between the company and the city. “I remember getting a 12-pack of hats one year,” Bangert said. “And coolers of beer for the crew after the show. We even brought in a barge full of friends and family to watch from the river. That’s what made it fun.”

The operation gradually grew more sophisticated. As safety regulations tightened, the informal handshake deals gave way to insurance certificates, safety compliance and more formal coordination with the city and contracted pyrotechnics companies.

In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the city’s fireworks contractor shifted from the Jaycees to direct involvement with the City of St. Charles and professional fireworks companies like Sunset Fireworks, then Melrose Pyrotechnics and, more recently, Pyrotechnico. But Gateway’s role has remained the same—supplying the barges and towboats, coordinating with the pyrotechnic teams and ensuring a safe, seamless show.

“We usually hear from the city around February,” Bangert said. “They ask, ‘You guys still doing this?’ And we say yes. We look at our fuel and labor costs, maybe insurance and give them a quote that’s as close to breakeven as we can get.”

Each year, Gateway strings together two sand barges—130 by 30 by 7 feet—and a spud barge to moor the show in place. The fireworks crew typically arrives on July 2 or 3, depending on the schedule. Trucks roll in, equipment is staged and racks of fireworks are installed on the barges—including a temporary wooden shack and cargo boxes in the sand barge to house the control panel and protect the operators. One barge holds the main display, while the other is reserved for the grand finale.

“By the morning of the 4th, we’re checking in with everyone, making sure there are no disasters,” Bangert said. “The show usually goes off around 9:20 p.m. We try to get the towboat out by 6:30 or 7 just to leave some buffer time.”

That buffer came in handy one year when a key air line burst on the towboat just hours before the show. “It blew a hole in the main line to the air starter. No air, no boat,” Bangert said. “We were scrambling for parts. We didn’t want the headline to be ‘No Fireworks Because Gateway Couldn’t Start the Boat.’”

After the show, Gateway ferries the barges back and oversees cleanup. “The pyrotechnics crew usually works until 2 or 3 in the morning to get everything out,” Bangert said. “We’re left with some paper and trash, but that’s just part of it. Then it’s back to business.”

In its own way, the tradition has become personal for Gateway Dredging.

“We bring out our families,” Bangert said. “We bring customers. We’re watching the show, too. That’s part of why we do it.”

Over four decades, Gateway Dredging’s humble service has helped ensure that St. Charles residents enjoy a safe, spectacular fireworks celebration on the Fourth of July, and though the faces and fireworks companies may change, the commitment from this riverfront company remains unwavering.

Still family-owned by the Bangert and Viehmann families, from its roots as Limited Leasing to its evolution as Gateway Dredging, this company isn’t just moving sand and rock. They’re a part of continuing a local tradition, one barge at a time.

Featured image caption: Fireworks over the Missouri River in St. Charles, Mo. (Photo courtesy of Gateway Dredging)