Truss Placement on New U.S. 60 Cumberland River Bridge at Smithland Completed
Work to remove jacking towers expected to continue until about 2 p.m., Today
PADUCAH, Ky. (Sept 15, 2022) – With the 700 ft. steel truss for the new U.S. 60 Cumberland River Bridge at Smithland placed atop the main piers; an American Bridge Company crew is continuing efforts to remove two of the four jacking towers that lifted it into place. The top of one tower was successfully removed Wednesday night. Efforts to remove the second tower started this morning and are expected to be completed by about 2 p.m., today.
While that work continues, the existing Smithland Bridge will remain restricted to one-lane traffic with alternating flow controlled by an automated signal. Some delays are likely during peak travel periods.
Removal of the towers will allow the flotilla that delivered the 5.1 million pound truss to the bridge construction site to depart, allowing the Cumberland River to reopen to boat traffic.
Moving the truss to the new bridge took a cooperative effort by Jim Smith Contracting, the prime contractor on the $63.8 million project, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), American Bridge, the U.S. Coast Guard and numerous agencies from a five-county area.
Hundreds of high school students and area residents got to see the truss being hoisted 90 feet into the air, moved over the waiting concrete piers, and lowered into place. The truss was placed on the piers at 2:30 p.m., Wednesday.
The truss will have to sit atop the piers for about a month before Jim Smith Contracting can start placing a concrete deck on the structure. That work is expected to take about six months which would allow traffic to be moved to the new bridge in late spring of 2023.
American Bridge assembled the 700-foot blue steel structure on 4-jumbo barges at the Paducah Riverport, then transported it upstream to the construction site.
Photos and videos of the truss move and placement are posted for public access at www.Facebook.com/kytcdistrict1. You do not have to be a Facebook member to access this page.
Project Schedule
October-November 2022
Prep and start deck concrete pour on main span
April-May 2023
U.S. 60 highway connections final tie-in
Traffic moved to new bridge
Demolition of the old bridge
June-August 2023
Final roadway driving surface and finish work
Target completion date for all work is Dec. 1, 2023
The new bridge will have a 40-foot-wide, two-lane deck with 12-foot driving lanes and 8-foot shoulders that will allow clearance for most farm equipment to cross without stopping oncoming traffic.
To aid river navigation on the Cumberland River, the new bridge will have no piers in the water during normal river conditions.
The new bridge will improve a significant cross-country link for U.S. 60 through western Kentucky and a critical connection for local Livingston County traffic. The Cumberland River splits the county, and the bridge is the only direct link for local commuters, commerce, school buses, and emergency responders.
Photos and videos of the truss in place are available at www.Facebook.com/kytcdistrict1.
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