The Abraham Lincoln Bridge is a six-lane, single-deck

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

carrying northbound

Interstate 65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gul ...

across the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

, connecting

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, and Jeffersonville,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. The main span is (two spans) and the bridge has a total length of . It is named after U.S. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

, who was born in Kentucky and grew up in Southern Indiana.

History

The Abraham Lincoln Bridge opened on December 6, 2015, and is parallel to the

John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge The John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge is a six-lane, single-deck cantilever bridge that carries southbound Interstate 65 across the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana. The main span is (two spans) and the ...

upstream and carries six lanes of northbound I-65 traffic. Pedestrian and bicycle lanes were in the original plans, but were later removed. The existing I-65 John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge, completed in 1963, was renovated for six lanes of southbound traffic. On October 10, 2016, five lanes of the Kennedy Bridge reopened, at which time the Lincoln Bridge began carrying only northbound traffic after several months of carrying three lanes of traffic in both directions. Both spans opened, with six lanes of traffic in each direction, in December 2016. Tolling on both spans began on December 30, 2016. A Structured Public Involvement protocol developed by Drs. K. Bailey and T. Grossardt was used to elicit public preferences for the design of the structure. From spring 2005 to summer 2006 several hundred citizens attended a series of public meetings in Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana and evaluated a range of bridge design options using 3D visualizations. This public involvement process focused in on designs that the public felt were more suitable, as shown by their polling scores. The SPI public involvement process itself was evaluated by anonymous, real-time citizen polling at the open public meetings. On July 19, 2006, the final design alternatives for the bridge were announced. The three designs included a three-span arch, a cable-stayed design with three towers, and a cable-stayed type with a single A-shaped support tower. It was also announced that the projected cost for the bridge would be $203 million. The structure is an additional bridge in downtown Louisville joining the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge erected between spring 1961 and late 1963 at a cost of $10 million ($77.5 million in 2015 dollars); the four-lane George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge, constructed from June 1928 and to October 31, 1929, and the

Big Four Bridge The Big Four Bridge is a six-span former railroad truss bridge that crosses the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. It was completed in 1895, updated in 1929, taken out of rail service in 1968, and conver ...

, which operated as a railroad bridge from 1895 to 1969 and reopened as a pedestrian bridge in May 2014. Some critics say that the Abraham Lincoln Bridge is not being used enough to warrant its cost of construction. The bridge, originally built to ease congestion, is proving to be unused by commuters who do not want to pay the toll. Among the original planners for bridge funding were some who resisted using tolls and the electronic

transponder In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...

technique of payment without actual toll booths.

References

External links

Abraham Lincoln Bridge
at Bridges & Tunnels {{Crossings navbox , structure = Bridges , place =

, bridge = Abraham Lincoln Bridge , bridge signs = Northbound I-65

, upstream =

, upstream signs = ''pedestrian and bicycle'' , downstream =

, downstream signs = Southbound I-65

Bridges in Louisville, Kentucky Monuments and memorials in Indiana Monuments and memorials in Kentucky Cable-stayed bridges in the United States Bridges over the Ohio River Bridges completed in 2015 Bridges in Clark County, Indiana Road bridges in Indiana Road bridges in Kentucky Toll bridges in Indiana Toll bridges in Kentucky Tolled sections of Interstate Highways Interstate 65 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System 2015 establishments in Indiana 2015 establishments in Kentucky

History

See also

References

External links