The Owensboro Bridge will be closed for 90 days this summer during a repair project, starting after July 4, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
According to KYTC, the maintenance project will encompass work on both sides of the Ohio River, including a new concrete driving surface and other repairs.
Preliminary work will begin with single lane closures planned for June 9-11. One lane of KY 2262 across the bridge will remain open during this phase of work, with flaggers directing alternating one-lane traffic.
American Contracting & Services plans to fully block the bridge after the July 4 weekend to begin the full maintenance project, KYTC officials said.
While the entire project is slated to last through November, officials said KYTC is limiting the actual bridge closure to 90 days or less. That schedule would have the bridge reopened around the first of October.
KYTC said previous plans called for a 6-month closure, but engineers worked to streamline the repairs and shorten the closure length to reduce traffic impacts to a minimum.
During construction, crews will be fully replacing one 750-foot-long span of concrete-filled bridge decking while making repairs to a second span of the same length. Officials said that because the decking spans the entire width of the bridge surface, closing one lane at a time is impossible.
Work will also be conducted on the Indiana approach to the bridge. KYTC and the Indiana Department of Transportation coordinated to schedule the work as one project so the bridge will only have to be closed once.
The contractor plans to conduct any work that does not require full closure outside the 90-day period to reduce impacts on traffic.
Traffic needing to cross the Ohio River between Kentucky and Indiana during the closure should detour using the U.S. 231 William H. Natcher Bridge.
