Eggner Ferry Bridge, also known as Eggner's Ferry Bridge, is a four-lane

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

in Trigg and

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. The current through-arch bridge opened to traffic on April 7, 2016, replacing a two-lane

bowstring truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or s ...

constructed in 1932. The bridge carries

US 68 U.S. Route 68 (US 68) is a United States highway that runs for from northwest Ohio to Western Kentucky. The highway's western terminus is at US 62 in Reidland, Kentucky. Its present eastern terminus is at Interstate 75 in Findlay, Ohio, thou ...

and

Kentucky Route 80 Kentucky Route 80 (KY 80) is a state highway in the southern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. The route originates on the state's western border at Columbus in Hickman County and stretches across the southern portion of the stat ...

across

Kentucky Lake Kentucky Lake is a major navigable river, navigable reservoir along the Tennessee River in Kentucky and Tennessee. It was created in 1944 by the Tennessee Valley Authority's impounding of the Tennessee River via Kentucky Dam for flood control a ...

. The main span of the original 1932 bridge collapsed on January 26, 2012, after it was hit by a ship. There were no injuries. The bridge was repaired and reopened to traffic on May 25 of that year. On the morning of July 25, 2016, the middle four spans of the old Eggner's Ferry Bridge were brought down using controlled explosives.

History

The bridge was built to cross the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

before Kentucky Lake was planned. The bridge was opened to traffic on March 25, 1932. On July 10, 1943, officials shut the bridge down for five months to build new

pilings A pile or piling is a vertical structural element of a deep foundation, driven or drilled deep into the ground at the building site. A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from th ...

and raise the structure to make room for Kentucky Lake. A

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

was established to cross the river while the bridge was closed.

Kentucky Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have bee ...

Simeon S. Willis presided over the re-opening of the bridge in February 1944. The bridge, plus a sister bridge that crosses nearby

Lake Barkley Lake Barkley, a reservoir in Livingston County, Lyon County and Trigg County in Kentucky and extending into Stewart County and Houston County in Tennessee, was impounded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1966 upon the completion of ...

, was slated to be replaced by a tied-arch bridge with four traffic lanes plus a sidewalk and bike path. Construction of the new bridges was initially scheduled to begin in 2011 as part of an upgrade to the existing 68/80 corridor. The project was expected to be completed in late 2017; however, due to damage by a ship strike in January 2012, the timetable was moved forward.

January 2012 incident

Delta Mariner at Eggner Ferry Bridge collapse site

A mainspan of the bridge collapsed after being struck by the cargo vessel MV ''Delta Mariner'' on January 26, 2012. At least four vehicles were reported to be on the bridge near the time of the collapse. One pickup truck stopped about 5 feet (1.5 m) from the edge of the missing section; the driver reported that two cars had stopped directly behind him, and he saw another car on the opposite side of the missing section. No injuries were reported. The U.S. Coast Guard reported on January 27 that the ''Delta Mariner'' hit the bridge when it tried to pass through what is known as the recreational channel, which has a lower clearance, instead of the shipping channel, which the vessel normally used. Reports indicate that some of the bridge's navigational lighting was inoperative at the time of the incident.

Paducah Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern United States at the confluence ...

television station

WPSD-TV WPSD-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Paducah, Kentucky, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for Western Kentucky's Jackson Purchase region, Southern Illinois, the Missouri Bootheel, and northwest Tennessee. Own ...

reported earlier in the week that the bridge was to be reduced to one lane on January 27 for a

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, ...

(KYTC) crew to repair the lights. KYTC spokesman Keith Todd stated that the lights facing the MV Delta Mariner were operational, and that the Coast Guard had made the lighting situation known to vessels operating on the waterway. Kentucky Governor

Steve Beshear Steven Lynn Beshear ( ; born September 21, 1944) is an American attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 61st governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 ...

announced that the state would immediately review all options for restoring the roadway to service. "We are grateful that this wreck caused no injuries or loss of life. Since that bridge carries 2,800 cars every day, we were very fortunate that no one was on the span at that time," said Beshear. "We'll turn our attention to a full inspection of the bridge and determine what steps we can take next to speed up the replacement of that important artery." An underwater inspection of the bridge also concluded that there was no significant damage to the piers. An ongoing concern was the economic impact of the loss of the bridge. The collapse had an immediate impact on employees and students at

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

who normally crossed the bridge during their commutes. According to university officials, about 270 students who attend classes in

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

, 210 of them attending full-time, live in two counties ( Trigg and

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

) for which the most direct route to campus is via the bridge. In addition, at the time of the collapse, the school's

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

students had a clinical placement in

Hopkinsville Hopkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2020 census was 31,180. History Early years The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 ...

, the county seat of Christian County. These individuals were forced to take a longer route to the university, increasing driving times by approximately an hour, and also increasing their fuel costs to cover the extra distance. University officials worked with students to identify and resolve problems caused by the bridge collapse. On March 8, 2012, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet awarded an emergency repair contract to Hall Contracting of Kentucky, Inc. The contract called for repairing and reopening the bridge before the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. The same company had also completed emergency repairs to the

Sherman Minton Bridge The Sherman Minton Bridge is a double-deck through arch bridge spanning the Ohio River, carrying I-64 and US 150 over the river between Kentucky and Indiana. The bridge connects the west side of Louisville, Kentucky to downtown New Albany, In ...

between

New Albany, Indiana New Albany is a city in New Albany Township, Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It ...

and

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

on a contract with 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 ...

. The bridge was reopened on May 25, 2012.

The current four-lane bridge

The new bridge opened for traffic on 2 lanes in summer of 2016. The old bridge was closed permanently in May 2016; on July 25, 2016, construction crews used explosives to demolish the original 1932 structure.

History

January 2012 incident

The current four-lane bridge

References

External links