700-foot bridge truss to float from Paducah to Smithland in September

The massive 700-foot long steel truss for a new US 60 bridge over the Cumberland River will be floated from Paducah to Smithland on four jumbo barges in September.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet engineers say the likely date of the move will be between Sept. 9-20, depending on weather and river conditions.

American Bridge assembled the blue steel structure on barges at the Paducah Riverport. The plan is to float it 14 miles upstream on the Ohio River to the construction site, a trip that will take about 4 hours.

The Coast Guard will shut down all boat traffic on the Ohio River between Paducah and Smithland to accommodate the move.

Placement of the truss will be a three-day process that will involve KYTC engineers, Coast Guard personnel, American Bridge engineers, numerous local agencies, and Jim Smith Contracting – the prime contractor for the $63.6 million project.

The new bridge has a truss design similar to that of the US 60 Tennessee River Bridge at Ledbetter. It will have a 40-foot-wide, two-lane deck with 12-foot driving lanes and 8-foot shoulders that will provide clearance for farm equipment to cross without stopping oncoming traffic.

To aid river navigation on the Cumberland River the new bridge will have no piers in the water during normal river conditions.

The target completion date for the new bridge is December of 2023.


TIMELINE:
Day 1: Truss to leave Paducah Riverport.
Day 2: Truss to be jacked to an elevation where it can be floated over the main piers of the bridge structure.
Day 3: Truss lowered onto piers; jacking towers removed.
Traffic on the existing U.S. 60 Cumberland River Bridge at Smithland will be restricted to one lane with an automated signal during the 3-day process.
Once the truss is in place, Jim Smith Contracting expects it will take 6 to 8 months to complete the deck on the main span to prepare it for traffic in late spring of 2023. The new bridge is immediately downstream from the existing bridge, which opened to traffic in 1931. 
The contractor and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet engineers have established an updated work schedule for the project.

September 2022
Main truss float-in on Span 4
October-November 2022
Deck Concrete on Span 4
April-May 2023
U.S. 60 highway connections tie-in
Traffic moved to new bridge
Demolition of old bridge
June-August 2023
Final roadway surfacing and finish work
Target completion date Dec. 1, 2023