The Milton–Madison Bridge (also known as the Harrison Street Bridge) is a

continuous truss bridge A continuous truss bridge is a truss bridge that extends without hinges or joints across three or more supports. A continuous truss bridge may use less material than a series of simple trusses because a continuous truss distributes live loads ...

that carries U.S. Route 421 over the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

between Milton, Kentucky and

Madison, Indiana Madison is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2010 United States Census its population was 11,967. Over 55,000 people live within of downtown Madison. Madison is the large ...

Description

The new bridge has a -wide road bed, plus a cantilevered pedestrian-only path. Bicyclists are banned from the sidewalk, but may use the new bridge's shoulders. The new bridge also features an

ADA Ada may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle'', a novel by Vladimir Nabokov Film and television * Ada, a character in 1991 movie '' Armour of God II: Operation Condor'' * '' Ada... A Way of Life'', a 2008 Bollywo ...

-compliant pedestrian walkway. This bridge is the only vehicular crossing of the Ohio River for going upstream (the Markland Bridge near

Vevay, Indiana Vevay ( ) is a town located in Jefferson Township and the county seat of Switzerland County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,741 at the 2020 census. History The first settlers who arrived in 1802 were Swiss im ...

) and downstream (the Lewis and Clark Bridge in northeast

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

). The bridge provides the shortest distance between

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, and

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

Original bridge

The original bridge had two lanes and a main span of and total length of . The original bridge had a deck width of a mere , and above the deck the vertical clearance was . Built by J.G. White Engineering Corp., construction was started in 1928, and completed in 1929, at the cost of $1,365,101.84. It was opened for traffic on December 20, 1929. During the winter of 1933, the bridge was briefly closed for three days due to ice accumulation on the lower truss members, marking the first recorded weather-related closure in its history. In 1939, the bridge was purchased by the state of Kentucky.https://bridgestunnels.com/location/milton-madison-bridge/ Originally a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

, on November 1, 1947, at noon the toll was removed. In 1970, Kentucky sold rights to the side of the bridge in Indiana to that state. In 1997 the bridge was refurbished with a new deck and other improvements. This was after a 1995 study which could not agree on a new bridge location, so $10 million was used for the refurbishment. By 2009, the original bridge was considered functionally obsolete and structurally deficient. It had a sufficiency rating of 33 out of a possible 100; its superstructure condition rating was considered "poor". Modern trucks were unable to safely use the old bridge. It carried approximately 10,000 cars a day.

Current bridge

Planning and construction

A Milton–Madison bridge study was begun by the

Indiana Department of Transportation The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Indiana charged with maintaining and regulating transportation and transportation related infrastructure such as state owned airports, List of number ...

and

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is Kentucky's state-funded government agency, agency charged with building and maintaining U.S. Highway System, federal highways and List of primary state highways in Kentucky, Kentucky state highways, ...

on August 26, 2008. The study had to take in account the Madison Historic District, which is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

, and the

National Environmental Policy Act The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law designed to promote the enhancement of the environment. It created new laws requiring U.S. federal government agencies to evaluate the environmental impacts of ...

. As of 2009, one of the boons of the new bridge would be to aid a $20 million "resort and entertainment center" where a cotton mill once stood. The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), in a partnership with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), designed a new bridge to replace the original bridge. The new project was headed mostly by INDOT. The old structure was replaced with a completely new continuous truss which was constructed on temporary

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

adjacent to the operational span between 2011 and 2012. The original bridge was removed except for several

in the waterway, which were rehabilitated and widened. A new, wider steel-truss superstructure was slid into place along steel rails and plates, a construction method called "truss sliding." Scour mitigation was also performed on the existing piers. Construction for the new bridge began in the fall of 2010, with the old bridge remaining open during work on the piers. Walsh Construction Company planned to close the bridge for only 10 days during construction rather than an anticipated year-long closure. Emergency ferry service during the 2012 and 2014 bridge closure periods was provided by Madison, Indiana-based, Madison Milton Ferry LLC, in partnership with Anderson Ferry of Hebron, Kentucky. Passenger ferry service was provided by Madison-based Rockin Thunder Jet Boat Rides LLC during the bridge closure for the final slide. In 15 days over 4000 passengers and 12 dogs were transported in a 6-passenger Jet Boat between Milton Kentucky and Madison Indiana. On March 11, 2014, only four days before the truss slide was scheduled to begin, construction workers were installing a mechanism to facilitate the slide when a steel bearing on the southeast corner of the bridge dislodged, causing the bridge to drop by at least and injuring one worker. Work was conducted to replace the steel bearing ten days later.

Opening

The new crossing opened to vehicle traffic at 7:20 PM on April 17, 2014, and a pedestrian sidewalk opened on October 30 of that year. The cost of the replacement was $103.7 million.

Gallery

File:Milton kentucky.jpg, Original bridge as seen from Milton, Kentucky in 2006 File:View of the Ohio River from Clifty Inn, Madison, Indiana.JPG, Original bridge viewed from

Clifty Falls State Park Clifty Falls State Park is an Indiana state park on in Jefferson County, Indiana in the United States. It is northeast of Louisville, Kentucky. The park attracts about 370,000 visitors annually. On October 27, 1920, citizens of Madison, Ind ...

in 2007 File:Milton-Madison Bridge structure.JPG, Deck of the original bridge in 2009

References

External links

Official website of the construction projectDocumentary about the construction project on YouTubeMilton–Madison Bridge
at Bridges & Tunnels
Madison–Milton Bridge
at Historic Bridges of the United States * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milton-Madison Bridge Bridges completed in 1929 Buildings and structures demolished in 2013 Bridges completed in 2014 Bridges over the Ohio River Historic American Engineering Record in Indiana Historic American Engineering Record in Kentucky Madison, Indiana Continuous truss bridges in the United States Transportation buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Indiana Buildings and structures in Trimble County, Kentucky Transportation in Trimble County, Kentucky Road bridges in Indiana Road bridges in Kentucky U.S. Route 421 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Former toll bridges in Indiana Former toll bridges in Kentucky 1929 establishments in Indiana 1929 establishments in Kentucky 2013 disestablishments in Indiana 2013 disestablishments in Kentucky 2014 establishments in Indiana 2014 establishments in Kentucky Steel bridges in the United States Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States