The John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge is a six-lane, single-deck

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed ...

that carries southbound Interstate 65 across the Ohio River, 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 s ...

. The main span is (two spans) and the bridge has a total length of . The span carries six southbound lanes. It is named after

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

History

Designed by the Louisville engineering firm of Hazelet & Erdal, construction began in the spring of 1961 and completed in late 1963 at a cost of $10 million. The span was unnamed when

was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Monsignor John N. Dudine was the first to suggest to the Kentucky Legislature to name the new bridge for President Kennedy. Four days later,

Kentucky Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-el ...

Bert T. Combs announced that there was wide agreement that the bridge would be named in Kennedy's memory. The bridge was dedicated and opened for northbound traffic on December 6, and southbound traffic began flowing a few weeks later. Between the late 1990s and 2006, the bridge was covered with rust-like spots and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had failed in attempts to rectify this, a subject of local controversy. The state twice paid contractors to repaint the bridge who then failed to do so. The attempts cost over $23 million, with little apparent result. The first of the two contracts, awarded in 1999, ended two years later in a bribery scandal that resulted in criminal prosecution. In October 2006, the state awarded a $14.7 million contract to Intech Contracting of Lexington to paint half the bridge by the summer of 2007. The new contract differed in that the project was split in two, and the original plans for a three color paint scheme were replaced with a simpler all beige colored one. The very southernmost portion of the bridge was completed in three colors (brown, beige, and green), although this will be painted over. On December 5, 2007, the painting project was completed at a cost of $59 million which included the two previous failed painting projects. John F

Second span

In 2013, Kentucky broke ground on a second span as part of the

Ohio River Bridges Project The Ohio River Bridges Project was a transportation project in the Louisville metropolitan area involving the reconstruction of the Kennedy Interchange (locally known as "Spaghetti Junction"), the completion of two new Ohio River bridges, and ...

, a project to relieve traffic congestion in the Louisville area. The

Abraham Lincoln Bridge The Abraham Lincoln Bridge is a six-lane, single-deck cable-stayed bridge carrying northbound Interstate 65 across the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. The main span is (two spans) and the bridge has a t ...

, a

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 ...

that opened in December 2015, carried all Interstate 65 traffic over the Ohio River while the Kennedy Bridge received a new deck. The Kennedy Bridge now carries six lanes of southbound I-65 traffic, while the Lincoln Bridge carries six lanes of northbound I-65 traffic. The Kennedy Bridge reopened in three phases during the final months of 2016. The first phase saw one lane reopen on September 30 for traffic traveling from surface streets in Jeffersonville to I-65. In the second phase, which took effect on October 10, the bridge reopened for I-65 through traffic, carrying five lanes of southbound traffic; at the same time, the Lincoln Bridge began carrying only northbound traffic. The final phase was the reopening of the exit ramp from the bridge to westbound I-64, which had been closed for nearly a year, on November 14. Tolling began in December 2016.

References

External links

John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge
at Bridges & Tunnels {{Crossings navbox , structure = Bridges , place = Ohio River , bridge = John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge , bridge signs = Southbound , upstream =

, upstream signs = Northbound I-65

, downstream =

George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge The George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge, known locally as the Second Street Bridge, is a four-lane cantilevered truss bridge crossing the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana, that carries US 31. History Debate ...

, downstream signs = Kennedy Monuments and memorials in Indiana Monuments and memorials in Kentucky Bridges over the Ohio River Bridges completed in 1963 Bridges in Clark County, Indiana Road bridges in Indiana Road bridges in Kentucky Interstate 65 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Toll bridges in Indiana Toll bridges in Kentucky Tolled sections of Interstate Highways Cantilever bridges in the United States Monuments and memorials to John F. Kennedy in the United States

History

Second span

See also

References

External links