Officials say the reopening of the Owensboro Bridge has been pushed again. The contractor has been charged more than $1.5 million in liquidated damages to date, and the total will continue to rise daily until the project is complete.
On December 26, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet told Owensboro Times that the bridge was still scheduled to reopen on January 16.
However, KYTC officials are now saying the closure “is expected to be extended until the end of January, up to two weeks beyond the most recent expected reopening date of January 16, 2026.”
Originally planned as a 90-day closure between July 1 and Oct. 1, 2025, the contractor did not begin construction until July 14, according to a release. KYTC was officially notified in late September that the reopening deadline would be missed when the contractor submitted a revised schedule that indicated a January 16, 2026, reopening date, officials said.
The reopening date was first announced in October after delays in steel fabrication and material availability pushed the timeline back.
According to KYTC, “the latest delay comes after (the contractor) failed to work numerous days during the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s holiday weeks that had been built into their planned construction schedule.”
After construction began in July, additional steel repair needs were identified on the bridge. That additional work was added to the project and scheduled to be completed along with the planned work. The additional work was completed in early November.
“The contractor is currently working on replacing around 900 feet of bridge deck on the Indiana approach to the main bridge truss,” the release says. “Remaining work on the main structure includes pouring about 500 feet of concrete bridge decking before the bridge can be reopened. According to the schedule that American Contracting provided to KYTC on Monday, they plan to resume pouring the concrete deck on the main structure on Friday, January 12.”
Liquidated damages of $15,000 per day (including weekends) are being applied for failure to reopen the bridge by the contractually agreed-upon October 1 deadline and will continue until the bridge is reopened to traffic, KYTC officials said. Failure to complete the project by November 15 resulted in an additional $4,000 per day in liquidated damages that will continue until the project is fully completed. Officials said that as of January 5, 2026, the company has been charged over $1.5 million in liquidated damages for failure to meet its contractual obligations.
Though officially named the Owensboro Bridge, the structure is commonly referred to as the Glover Cary Bridge or the Blue Bridge.
When open, the bridge carries about 7,200 vehicles daily. Traffic remains detoured to the U.S. 231 William H. Natcher Bridge while work continues.
