Repainted Carl Perkins bridge opens Wednesday, Nov. 11

$7 million preservation project finished

FLEMINGSBURG, Ky. (Nov. 11, 2015) – The Carl D. Perkins Memorial Bridge, which has been closed for painting, is reopening today, Wednesday, Nov. 11, ahead of the Nov. 15 contract deadline.

Contractors expect to begin removing detour signs and message boards this morning, and reopen the bridge by this afternoon. The bridge will open in stages as traffic control is removed.

The nearly $7 million Kentucky Transportation Cabinet project to paint the Perkins bridge’s 600,000-square-foot steel superstructure began in April.

The bridge, which spans the Ohio River to connect Greenup County with Portsmouth, Ohio, was closed to traffic to speed the project. Retaining a lane of traffic would have extended the project to a year or longer.

In recent weeks, contractors completed painting and trim work on the bridge's steel structure, then applied a new protective coating for 6,000 feet of bridge railing.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet appreciates the public's patience and cooperation during the project. This was the bridge's first repainting since its construction in the 1980's, and the new protective coating is an important investment in protecting and preserving the bridge over the next 35 years for the thousands of travelers who use it daily.

The new paint will protect and preserve the bridge for about 35 years for the thousands of travelers who use it daily to cross from KY 8 and U.S. 23 in Greenup County to U.S. 52, Ohio 73 and U.S. 23 in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Learn more about Kentucky Department of Highways District 9 online at http://transportation.ky.gov/DistrictNine.

Traffic updates available via Twitter at http://twitter.com/KYTCDistrict9 or Facebook at http://facebook.com/KYTCDistrict9. Or, navigate traffic with KYTC, http://511.ky.gov, and Waze, http://waze.com.

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