News Item #1432

From KYTC Department of Highways District 2 (Sept. 14, 2009):

Transportation Cabinet schedules cleaning & inspection of US 41 Twin Bridges
Lane restrictions scheduled week of Sept. 28th

HENDERSON, Ky. — Lane restrictions are scheduled on the US 41 Twin Bridges the week of Sept. 28th, for a variety of deck and maintenance work.

Transportation Cabinet engineers planned the work to minimize traffic interruptions, according to Kevin McClearn, chief engineer for the Madisonville highway district.

“This primarily takes care of our annual bridge deck cleaning. While maintenance crews are clearing drains and sweeping debris off the bridges, we’ll also be inspecting the deck condition and making necessary repairs,” McClearn said.

McClearn said the cabinet’s joint, annual walk-through inspection with Indiana Department of Transportation engineers will also be conducted during the scheduled work. Sensors that help detect the severity of barge strikes and other impacts to the structure will also be a part of coordinated maintenance work.

Northbound and southbound traffic will be reduced to one lane from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., CDT, daily during the week of Sept. 28. The work schedule is dependent on cooperating weather.

The maintenance work is important to put the bridges in optimum condition for winter driving weather.

McClearn noted that over the last 3 years the maintenance was schedule for two full weeks, but through the use of multiple crews and well-coordinated schedules the work has been completed in one week. That prompted KYTC engineers to scheduled the work for completion in one week this year, weather permitting.

The US 41 Twin Bridges, also known as the Bi-State Viet Nam Gold Star Memorial Bridges, carry about 40,000 vehicles per day across the Ohio River between Henderson, Ky., and Evansville, Ind. They’re located at Ohio River navigation mile point 786.8, about a mile downstream from the mouth of the Green River.

The northbound bridge was opened on July 4, 1932. The southbound bridge was opened in December 1966. Both bridges were painted and rehabilitated during the 2007-2008 construction seasons.