Twin Bridges

https://www.thegleaner.com/story/news/local/2022/06/22/i-69-...

According to this article, the southbound 1965 span will get to enjoy at least 10 more years of life. Current projections after the ceremonial groundbreaking for the bypass span have it being completed in 2031 or 32. Knowing how far behind schedule 69 is in its connection with I-465 in Indianapolis from its original plan date, this date could be pushed back. Seeing that they don't bother to produce bridges like this anymore and instead slap a cable stayed conglomeration over all new major river crossings, I believe the '65 span has historical significance.

That seems reasonable, I added a note to the page (and to my website too, which had always listed it as being in two states also).

I always think of it as Evansville. So, as a Hoosier, I say Indiana and Kentucky.

I agree with Melissa. Even if it isn't technically correct, I'm sure a lot of people (myself included) think of this bridge as a bi-state structure since the Ohio River is uniformly known as the dividing line between the states, and that way anyone trying to find this bridge on Bridgehunter via the Indiana map will still be able to find it. In the interest of accuracy, perhaps a note could be added to the description about this bridge actually being in Indiana.

Nathan, as a resident of the Tri-State area (IL, IN, KY) I believe it should be jointly listed with Indiana as it is.

This bridge is not located in Indiana despite joint maintenance. The state line is 1.5 miles north of this bridge and even the approach spans do not reach Indiana. That said, the bridge does have an entry in the Indiana NBI. Also many people may assume part of the bridge is in Indiana. Should the page be edited for geographic accuracy (remove Indiana) or not?

The Final Environmental Impact Statement is out and as near as I can tell the older and more historic/significant northbound US-41 Bridge will be rehabilitated with the newer southbound bridge being demolished. While keeping both bridges would be nice, it is in either case a welcome decision that they find the older bridge worth keeping. 1930s (or older) cantilever truss bridges are almost gone over big rivers, with so few being preserved. https://i69ohiorivercrossing.com/feis-rod/

The state believes traffic will be greatly reduced on the US 41 twin bridges once the new I69 bridge is complete. I too think both bridges should still stand because they've been a very iconic site, and traffic may not stay reduced as much.

Based on the amount of traffic I have seen there, I don’t rightly see how they can go back down to two lanes. Seems pretty inept on the state’s part

It sure sounds like they plan on keeping the northbound which is the older of the two. Interesting decision if not an error in reporting. Maybe the newer one becomes a party venue!

This article makes it sound like the rare surviving 1930s Modjeski and Masters cantilever truss might be spared demolition.

https://landline.media/i-69-ohio-river-crossing-will-include...

I did a very quick field visit to these bridges while on a fast paced drive across Indiana recently. Interestingly enough, the southbound lanes cross a temporary Bailey type bridge on the Indiana side.

I will let the Indiana folks fill in the details.

Here's a twist: The 1932 bridge is actually in slightly better condition than the 1965 bridge according to the National Bridge Inventory data.

1932 bridge -- sufficiency rating 58.8:

http://bridgereports.com/1212713

1965 bridge -- sufficiency rating 49.2:

http://bridgereports.com/1212714

As a Tri-State resident I am thrilled to hear they want to save the historic bridge .

The current plan being proposed is to tear down one of the twin bridges after the new I-69 bridge is built just upstream.

Amazingly they want to keep the 1932 bridge.

There are 3 proposed alignment options for the new I-69 bridge from Henderson to Evansville: West Alternative 1, Western Alternative 2 and Central Alternative 1. Central Alternative 1, which places the I-69 bridge east and away from the US 41 bridges is the preferred location and is likely to be the chosen alignment.

https://www.courierpress.com/story/news/2018/01/31/details-e...

The design of the second bridge was produced by a company called Hazelet and Erdal, Inc. out of Louisville KY. This was before my employment with them. Its first intial in-depth inspection was performed by a team of inspectors (which included me) in 1988 or 1989 employed by Hazelet and Erdal, Inc.. After numerous buyouts, H&E has become part of AECOM.

Sincerely

Dallas E. Montgomery PE,RLS

Burgess and Niple, Inc.

Louisville, KY

502-552-1634

Little sad, spent a lot of time on these bridges in my childhood. I knew when I crossed that bridge I was back home.

I don't suppose they have the intelligence to simply build this ugly new cable stayed bridge nearby on new alignment and leave the beautiful historic 1932 bridge alone. One of the renderings showed the newer cantilever truss standing next to the cable stayed bridge.

So that's great. The Ohio River loses yet another beautiful cantilever truss bridge, and the I-69 Canada-Mexico corridor is one step closer to ensuring that my home state of Michigan gets even MORE truck traffic. As if we needed or wanted any. I-69 in Michigan already has so many trucks that its almost impossible to use cruise control (because they drive so slow) and its hazardous because 90% of truck drivers are half asleep and wandering out of their lane constantly.

New bridge in the future for Indiana and Kentucky. Governors Pence and Bevin signed the paperwork today.

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/06/30/pence-bevin-st...

In the process of doing some historical research on the bridges I found a copy of the original toll card. The toll was 25 cents for a vehicle up to 6 passengers. 7 passengers or more the toll was 35 cents. However, the item that caught my eye was "Livestock on the hoof 5 cents per head." I have a news release with some additional history I wrote for the 75th annicersary of the northbound bridge.-- Keith

Some information I discovered about the original Bridge, Evansville actually was opposed to any bridge crossing the Ohio River into Indiana due to the idea that People living in Kentucky would take jobs from Indiana people. But due to the earthquake of 1812 the river had shifted to its current course leaving a portion of the Ohio River entirely in Kentucky. Thus leaving open the fact that Kentucky did not Indiana to build the Bridge and thus you now have the location of the twins.

Modjeski & Masters got credit for designing the 1932 span but I don't know about the newer span.

Thankyou J.P. for showing me these bridges. I can understand why you love these bridges. Now as for your last comment on these bridges, it would seem to the people who read it that you love these bridges so much that you were "born" on them......hmmmmmmmm???? Now tell everyone the rest of the story.

i love these bridges, I use to live about an hour south of evansville, but anytime we would go to the zoo we would cross these. I use to call these the twins on the river.

My grandfather, AV Burch Sr lobbied for many years and finally was successful after being appointed to the Indiana highway commission, in getting the State of Indiana and Kentucky to construct the bridge from Evansville to Henerson. The complaint from Kentucky was that their residents would cross the bridge to shop and spend money in Evansville.

We used to call these the "singing" bridges. They used to have some sort of metal links for the road bed and made a funny sound when you drove over them.

But the metal is gone and now it has a concrete roadbed.