A large crane lifted the last steel section of the East End Crossing Bridge into place Monday morning to connect its two sides, signaling a significant step in the completion of the Ohio River Bridges Project.
The milestone means that work on the superstructure is heading into its final phase. The East End Bridge is a new cable-stayed span stretching bank-to-bank over the Ohio River between the Prospect area in Kentucky and the Utica area in Indiana. The bridge is expected to open to traffic in December.
Tolling is expected to begin around the same time. The new Abraham Lincoln Bridge, the improved Kennedy Bridge and the new East End Bridge will be tolled. The Sherman Minton Bridge and the Clark Memorial Bridge will not have tolls.
The $2.3 billion Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project includes two new bridges and their approaches, an improved Kennedy, and reconstruction of the Kennedy Interchange, where I-65, I-64 and I-71 join in downtown Louisville.
The new Abraham Lincoln Bridge will carry six lanes of I-65 northbound traffic, while the Kennedy will carry six lanes of southbound traffic.
