Rebuilding of Madison, Indiana - Milton, Kentucky Bridge

I thought that this item may be of interest.  Much of my time this summer has been spent in Madison, Indiana.  Much more on Madison later, its historic downtown area and a project that I have been involved with that involves a historic building.

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But this item concerns the bridge that spans the Ohio River.  This is the view of the bridge from house where I have been staying, taken yesterday.

It's a rare span over the Ohio River.  The other nearby river crossings are 26 miles away (Markland Dam, between Gallatin County in Kentucky and Switzerland County in Indiana and another 45 miles away in Louisville, Kentucky.  It was built as a two lane fixed bridge.  The 10 foot lane width in each direction remains today.  Due to structural concerns, the weight limit on the bridge has been reduced to 15 tons.  Before the bridge was finished in 1929, a ferry provided service for traffic between Milton, KY (small population) and Madison, IN (around 13,000 people.)

The bridge is about to be rebuilt to modern lane standards (12 feet wide) with an eight foot breakdown lane on each side, plus a bicycle lane - no break down lane exists now.  The new span will be 40 feet wide.  There will also be a pedestrian bridge cantilevered onto the western side of the bridge.

The bridge currently carries approximately 11,000 vehicles a day - that is after the 15 ton load limit was imposed last year.  There will be a ferry that will handle what is predicted to be half that volume.  There is much concern about the closing of the bridge and the establishment of ferry service during the period when the bridge is out of service.

There is a website devoted to re-construction of the bridge - you can reach that by clicking here.  There is an animation video - along with a film of the 1929 dedication.  Check out the gallery section too.  There are also pictures of the original construction and other historic photographs.  As I mentioned, more on Madison's historic downtown later, but the location of the bridge - where it will be re-built - did not meet with favor from preservationists.  They preferred a location farther west from the historic downtown core.

Interestingly, stimulus money is only paying around $20 million of the $131 million project - about a sixth of the bridge reconstruction.  The bridge happens to be entirely within the State of Kentucky as the state line is actually along the northern or Indiana shore of the river, but money for the reconstruction is coming from both states.  There is also money being allocated to historic preservation mitigation.  Much of this is covered in the linked website.