The Livermore Bridge is a bridge that carries
US-431 over the
Green River Green River may refer to:
Rivers
Canada
* Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River
*Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte
*Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
, near
Livermore in
McLean County, Kentucky
McLean County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,152. Its county seat is Calhoun. McLean is a prohibition or dry county. McLean County is part of the Owensboro, KY Metropolitan S ...
where it crosses over two rivers (the Green and
Rough Rivers), and passes over a separate county; the only known such occurrence in the world.
[KY:Historical Society – Historical Marker Database – Search for Markers]
/ref> A sliver of land that is part of Ohio County, Kentucky passes under the bridge. This was once printed in a ''Ripley's Believe It or Not
''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' fea ...
'' strip, saying that people believe this makes the bridge the longest in the world. The bridge was dedicated on November 13, 1940.[McLean County – Livermore]
/ref>
/ref>
The north end of the bridge starts at Livermore Kentucky. As it goes south, it first passes over the Rough River. It then goes over the peninsula of Ohio County, then passes over the Green River, and then ends going downhill on the south bank of the Green River in McLean County. The Rough River feeds the Green River just west of the bridge.
The Livermore Bridge is a through truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
at 37°29'03" N, 87°08'05" W, whose largest span is 319.8 feet, to the total of 1,643.6 feet long, a deck width of 23.9 feet, and a vertical clearance above the deck of 17.7 feet. It was built by the Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
during the Great Depression era. An October 2004 inspection rated the road as very good, with its structure ranging from fair to good, but as a bridge from 1940 it is functionally obsolete.[Historic Bridges of the U.S. , Green River US 431 Bridge]
/ref>
An average of 6,833 cars a day use the bridge.
It is deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
, but has yet to receive that distinction.
References
{{reflist
Buildings and structures in McLean County, Kentucky
Buildings and structures in Ohio County, Kentucky
Works Progress Administration in Kentucky
Road bridges in Kentucky
U.S. Route 431
Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System
Bridges completed in 1940
Truss bridges in the United States
Metal bridges in the United States
1940 establishments in Kentucky
Transportation in Ohio County, Kentucky
Transportation in McLean County, Kentucky
Green River (Kentucky)