HENDERSON - Rust and patches of rough driving on the U.S. 41 Twin Bridges are reminders of their advanced age, and they point to the need for a new Ohio River transportation option in the next few years, according to Evansville and Henderson leaders.
The northbound bridge linking Indiana and Kentucky opened July 4, 1932. The southbound span followed on Dec. 16, 1965. Thousands of 18-wheelers and commuters cruise across the bridges daily. The most recent estimate was 37,000 total vehicles; it’s thought to be at least 40,000 now.
Kentucky officials say the bridges are structurally sound, but the cost to keep them safe and functional is at least $1 million per year. The rust issue, too, is proving costly. State officials say the most recent paint job in 2007 and 2008 was expected to last 15-20 years.
Instead, as anyone who passes over the spans can attest, the paint job today hardly looks new.
“The contractor did a poor job, and the rust is showing through,” said Brad Schneider, CEO of Kyndle, which provides business support and economic development services for four Western Kentucky counties. “That has lent itself to the image of the bridges being in poor shape ... and I agree, it looks more rusted than it should. Every year that goes by, those bridges get more poor looking.”
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokesman Keith Todd said the paint job cost more than $20 million, and the bridges will need repainted sooner than state officials had planned.
“The way it works is, all the bridges in the state are compared to each other, and they might pick the top one or two in the state that need to be painted,” Todd said. In the case of the Twin Bridges, “some of the paint underneath them is holding up better than where it is more visible, so that is taken into account.”
Southbound due for deck work
Although the northbound bridge is the oldest by 33 years, its sufficiency rating on file with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is higher than its companion. That’s because the southbound bridge needs deck work, which is scheduled over the next two years.
A concrete overlay will be placed on the southbound span. It has required considerable patching lately, Todd said; crews were on the bridge last week filling holes.
On a 100-point scale, the northbound bridge’s efficiency rating is 69.8, and the southbound bridge is 60.1. In 2008, the ratings were 73.8 and 71.8, respectively.
The scale, “takes into account each of the bridge elements, including deck condition and even the distance you would travel if the bridge had to be closed,” Todd said.
Besides the rust and pavement issues, a third problem has damaged the Twin Bridges’ appearance lately — an abundance of trash, most of it on and around the southbound span.
Henderson government officials have taken notice. Mayor Steve Austin said trash on the southbound span far exceeds that of its counterpart.
“It’s speculated and guessed that some haulers are not securing their loads well,” Austin said. “We are going to take some action as far as putting signage up at our landfill that authorities are watching, and (encourage haulers to) secure your loads.
“We have raised our costs in general for the landfill. It has a limited life, and it’s probably now in the 5- to 6-year range. We have discussed taking only in-state materials. As we sit here today, we don’t have an alternative (new landfill) site.”
Kyndle, the Southwest Indiana Chamber and local government leaders in both states continue to push for the speediest possible construction of an Interstate 69 bridge, which would cross the river east of Ellis Park and east of Henderson.
“Any hiccup on either side of that bridge will back up traffic for miles,” Austin said. “The roadway and bridges are at their maximum capacity, and we hope that some relief comes.”
The BridgeLink consortium said in July that building a four-lane bridge — rather than six as had been planned — with narrower shoulders and a design modification to shorten the new I-69 roadway before it ties into the existing Pennyrile Parkway would cut the project’s long-quoted cost of $1.4 billion down to $800 million.
“Both transportation commissioners are mulling that over ... We hope it means the bridge gets built,” Schneider said.
Advocates also note the likelihood of tolls on the new span to help finance it, and say there’s also a chance that all commercial traffic will be routed to the new bridge.
“We have engineers in Frankfort who are working on things on a regular basis to try to figure those things out, how it all fits,” Todd said.
Southwest Indiana Chamber President Christy Gillenwater supports BridgeLink’s ideas if they move the new bridge toward completion and if removing commercial traffic from the Twin Bridges extends their use.
“We see an opportunity to move the truck traffic and lessen the wear and tear,” Gillenwater said.
The chamber is also open to tolls on the new bridge to help with financing, Gillenwater said, “but we think it’s important to keep an untolled bridge for local (noncommerical) traffic.”
Alternative needs to ‘move forward’
At least one local trucking company is open to the tolls concept.
“If it helped move (the new bridge) along, I would not be opposed,” said Tom Shetler, president of Shetler Moving and Storage, an agent of Atlas Van Lines. Shetler also is president of the Vanderburgh County Council.
Shetler said that more than the toll itself, his larger concern would be the payment method. He said a fast-pay system which has caught on in other states would be preferable to an old-fashioned system that required stopping and restarting rigs.
However, Shetler said it’s imperative a bridge alternative move forward “for our industry, for business and for commerce.”
U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon, R-8th District, a year ago launched the I-69 congressional caucus, which Bucshon said is intended to raise awareness of the highway’s importance as a freight corridor. The I-69 corridor is designated by Congress as two high-priority stretches from Michigan to Texas.
The congressman and the project’s local advocates have repeatedly said “creative” funding mechanisms will be needed to push forward a new Ohio River bridge that is part of the corridor. Todd said that at the state and federal levels, officials “are looking at a lot of different things ... everything is on the table.”
Members of the local BridgeLink say the need for a new connection will not lessen. “As our region continues to grow and prosper, the need for an I-69 bridge continues to grow,” Gillenwater said.