Ohio River Bridges – Jefferson County, KY, and Clark County, IN

Kentucky Indiana Planning and Development Agency, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) initiated the Ohio River Major Investment Study in the late 90’s. The study aimed to address current and future travel across the Ohio River. It recommended that INDOT and KYTC build two new bridges to meet the region’s cross-river transportation needs, enhance safety, and reduce traffic congestion.

Our Role

Parsons, as lead firm and managing partner in the Community Transportation Solutions joint venture, served as the project’s General Engineering Consultant. We were responsible for managing preparation of the environmental impact documents. We also oversaw preliminary design for the project, including both the Downtown Crossing and the East End Crossing.

A cable-stayed bridge with three sets of twin towers was chosen for the Downtown Crossing. This design allows more open views of the downtown Louisville skyline. Now named the Abraham Lincoln Bridge, it opened to traffic on December 30, 2016. Work included:

• Building a new I-65 bridge with six northbound lanes
• Reconfiguring Spaghetti Junction (I-64, I-65, and I-71)
• Reconfiguring Indiana roadway and bridge approaches
• Rehabbing the Kennedy Bridge (I-65) with six southbound lanes

The East End Crossing, now named the Lewis and Clark Bridge, is the first bridge project to receive an Envision® Platinum Sustainability Award from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. This award recognizes the project’s exceptional achievements in sustainable infrastructure design, construction, and operations. The bridge opened to traffic on December 18, 2016, and features a new, state-of-the-art, cable-stayed bridge. It also includes a tunnel under historic property in Kentucky and 4 miles of new-terrain highway in Indiana. Highlights include:

• Building a new East End bridge 8 miles upstream from downtown Louisville
• Extending the Snyder Freeway (SR 841/I-265) in Kentucky to the new bridge. This extension includes a 1,700-ft tunnel under the Drumanard Estate in Prospect.
• Constructing a 6-mi long, new-terrain highway in Kentucky and Indiana that will extend the Gene Snyder Freeway (KY 841) and the Lee Hamilton Highway (SR 62/SR 265) to the new bridge.