Repairs to begin on water system at the East End Tunnels in Jefferson County
Louisville, KY (Feb. 15, 2018) – Repairs are scheduled to begin next week on the water system at the East End Tunnels in Jefferson County. Contract crews will be replacing pipes damaged in early January during frigid temperatures that caused the water pipes to burst.
The left lane of KY 841 South (Gene Snyder Freeway) will be closed in the East End Tunnel (mile marker 37.0) to accommodate equipment needed for the repairs. Work is scheduled to begin on Monday, Feb. 19 with a lane closure on weekdays from 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. The repairs will take approximately three weeks to complete.
Traffic control will be conducted by Kentucky Transportation Cabinet maintenance crews. The timeframe for repairs may be delayed should weather events interfere with critical snow and ice removal efforts.
Out of an abundance of caution, KYTC elected to temporarily restrict the travel of placarded vehicles carrying hazardous materials through the East End Tunnels until the fire suppression system could be repaired. An official order by KYTC Secretary Greg Thomas went into effect on Jan. 15 restricting those vehicles from traveling on KY 841 in Jefferson County from mile marker 36.5 (U.S. 42 exit ramp) to mile marker 38.8 (Kentucky/Indiana state line). The official order will expire once repairs are complete.
The issue was precipitated by a false fire alarm that triggered the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software that controls the fire suppression system in the tunnel to shut off the recirculation system's water pump as a safeguard. A notification feature has since been added to SCADA to alert TRIMARC operators if the recirculation system is automatically shut off.
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