Eggners Ferry Bridge Open To Traffic
Aurora, KY -- The U.S. 68/KY 80 Eggners Ferry Bridge
reopened to traffic at 1:05 p.m., today, a full 2 days
ahead of schedule. Hall Contracting of Kentucky Inc.
completed emergency repairs on the bridge earlier than
required and returned control of the bridge to Kentucky
Transportation Cabinet engineers. Highway crews worked into
the night Thursday, and then were back on the bridge at
daylight this morning to complete all of the finish work
required to get the bridge open.
Before the bridge reopened to traffic, the public was
allowed access to the bridge from 9 a.m. to 12 Noon.
Transportation officials estimate between 2,000 and 3.000
people took advantage of the unique opportunity to walk and
bike across the bridge.
The Eggners Ferry Bridge, which carries U.S. 68/KY 80 across
Kentucky Lake, was struck by the cargo ship Delta Mariner
the night of Jan. 26th, taking out A 322-foot-long span of
the 80-year-old structure.
During a brief opening ceremony, Kentucky Lt. Governor Jerry
Abramson noted that getting the bridge reopened to traffic
in such a short period is truly remarkable.
Governor Beshear quickly recognized the importance of this
bridge to the region s tourism economy and area commuters,
Abramson said. We made a commitment to get the bridge
reopened quickly. The Transportation Cabinet and Hall
Contracting executed on that promise. That s worth
celebrating.
In addition to cleaning the bridge deck, a member of the
Marshall County Highway Crew had to remove a swarm of bees
that settled on the bridge and threatened to put a damper on
the festive mood. Highway crews also had to remove
dozens of detour signs and a half-dozen message boards that
have helped travelers and commuters negotiate a 64 mile
detour around the closure. The detour added 42 miles
to a normal 22-mile trip from Aurora to Cadiz.
Following a Noon news conference to celebrate the opening,
pedestrians and bicyclists were asked to exit the deck to
allow traffic to be restored. About a half-hour later,
a pickup truck driven by Robert Parker was among the first
vehicles to cross. Parker and his wife were driving
across the bridge the night of the incident that severed the
322 ft. span.
During a 1 hour visit to the site earlier in the day,
Kentucky Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock said
restoring traffic to the bridge in 120 days took a
phenomenal effort.
Crews from Hall Contracting lifted a new truss span into
place on Tuesday, May 15. After placing reinforcing steel
and forms on the truss, a new concrete deck was poured last
Sunday. This week workers concentrated on finishing
curbs and removing forms from the structure.
The two-lane Eggners Ferry Bridge serves as the western
gateway to Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.
The bridge opened to traffic crossing the Tennessee River in
1932. Its elevation was raised in 1943 when the
Tennessee River was impounded to create Kentucky Lake. A
KYTC traffic count conducted in 2009 showed 2,650 vehicles
cross the bridge in an average day.
The Transportation Cabinet is in the process of replacing
the bridge, along with the nearby bridge over Lake Barkley
on the eastern side of Land Between the Lakes.
Preconstruction work, including geotechnical drilling, began
months ago.
According to Kentucky s Western Waterland, a regional
tourism promotion group, tourism dollars provide a direct
annual contribution of $472 million to the region and a
direct contribution of $7.4 billion to the Kentucky economy
statewide.
