Answers for what’s happening next with the replacement of the Clay Street bridge should be coming soon, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
Cabinet officials are searching for a plan to fix the bridge after the initial bidding process to find a contractor netted no interested companies to take on the project.
“We are working on that right now,” Matt Hughes, spokesperson for Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 2, said Wednesday morning. “It’ll probably be Monday before I have a concrete answer. It definitely is a high priority.”
“We can’t speculate on why contractors do not bid on projects,” Hughes said in an email later Wednesday afternoon. “Repairing the KY 812 bridge to reopen it safely remains a priority of Team Kentucky. The Transportation Cabinet is working on a temporary repair plan that will allow the bridge to reopen in a few weeks to carry traffic until a permanent reconstruction project can begin.”
Hughes said more details on the temporary repair plan will be released on Monday.
Replacing the bridge had already been scheduled to occur this year, but when deterioration came to light from a May 6 inspection, state officials immediately closed the bridge and subsequently put out bids in search of a suitable contractor.
“During an inspection on Monday (May 6), issues were found with the Canoe Creek bridge’s steel support structure that necessitated immediate closure to protect the traveling public and determine next steps,” said Hughes in a previous Hendersonian article.
According to the article, the state’s new six-year road plan already includes a nearly $1.9 million project this year to replace the existing 41-year-old bridge, which crosses the North Fork of Canoe Creek bridge on Clay Street about midway between Atkinson Street and Kentucky 2084 (formerly U.S. 41-South).
That estimated price tag includes $170,000 for design of the new bridge and $1.7 million for its construction.
State officials are now determining a plan and a goal for how and when the work will be completed, Hughes said.
Hughes said state officials are also looking at other details that might have affected bidding.
“Engineers are also redesigning the reconstruction project slightly to address factors that might impact bidding such as avoiding utility impacts, material ordering, and optimizing the project schedule when the project is readvertised,” Hughes said in the Wednesday email.
Current work on Second Street/Ky. 351 as well as U.S. 41 associated with the I-69 Ohio River Crossing project combined with the Clay Street bridge closure has contributed to confusion and frustration for motorists entering and leaving the East End area of town.
According to the previous Hendersonian article, significant deterioration can be seen on many of the 10 steel I-beams that hold up the concrete bridge, including what appears to be a tennis ball-sized hole in one beam. The tops of some beams, on which the concrete bridge rests, have been so eaten away by corrosion that light shines through where steel should be.
