A contractor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to conduct a detailed inspection of the KY 2262 Ohio River “Blue” Bridge at OWENSBORO starting Monday, June 4, 2018.
Traffic disruptions will be kept to a minimum through the use of climbers to inspect the upper truss structure with a man-lift working below the bridge deck along the approach spans. There may be some delays when the inspection team transfers the man-lift from the Indiana end of the bridge to the Kentucky side around mid-week. Use of the man-lift below the approach spans on the Kentucky end of the bridge will require a brief lane restriction on 2nd Street in Owensboro.
Motorists should be alert for climbers accessing the bridge structure along the railing. Some brief lane restrictions or occasional halt in traffic may be required to allow inspectors and their equipment to be dropped at various points along the bridge deck. Appropriate caution is required.
Motorists can expect to encounter inspectors climbing on the bridge structure anytime weather allows during daylight hours. The inspection is expected to take about five or six working days to complete.
All Kentucky bridges get a federally mandated detailed inspection every two years with long-span bridges over rivers and lakes getting an extra walk-through inspection annually.
Also known as the Blue Bridge and the Glover Cary Bridge, the 4,622 ft. cantilevered Warren through truss structure connects KY 2262 and Indiana State Route 161 over the Ohio River between Owensboro, KY, and Rio, IN. Approximately 7,300 vehicles cross the Ohio River on the Blue Bridge in an average day. The structure opened to traffic in September 1940 as a toll bridge. Tolls were discontinued in 1954.
The bridge originally carried US 231 traffic across the river. US 231 moved to the William Natcher Bridge near Maceo northeast of Owensboro in October 2001.
The KY 2262 Ohio River “Blue” Bridge is at Ohio River navigation mile point 756.3.
Timely traffic advisories for the 11 counties of KYTC Highway District 2 are available by going to www.facebook.com/kytcdistrict2 . You do not have to be a Facebook member to access this page.
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