Clay's Ferry Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Deck truss bridge over the Kentucky River on I-75/US 25/US 421 at Clay's Ferry south of Lexington
- Location
- Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, and Madison County, Kentucky
- Status
- Open to six lanes of traffic
- History
- Built 1998 by the C.J. Mahan Construction Co. to replace a pair of deck truss bridges from 1946 and 1963
- Builder
- - C.J. Mahan Construction Co. of Grove City, Ohio
- Design
- Warren deck truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 448.0 ft.
Total length: 1,712.4 ft.
Deck width: 60.0 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +37.88367, -84.33932 (decimal degrees)
37°53'01" N, 84°20'22" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/733989/4196246 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Ford
- Average daily traffic (as of 2017)
- 71,849
- Inventory numbers
- KY 034-B00153N (Kentucky bridge number)
BH 18766 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of May 2018)
- Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 76 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- February 2, 2022: New Street View added by Paul Plassman
- May 3, 2021: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
- July 23, 2010: New Street View added by Andrew Hansford
- May 13, 2010: New photos from James McCray
- May 13, 2010: New photos from J.P.
- October 10, 2005: Posted photos from James Adorno
Related Bridges
- Clay's Ferry Bridge (1963) (Predecessor)
- Clay's Ferry Bridge (1946) (Predecessor)
Sources
- James Adorno
- J.P. - wildcatjon2000 [at] gmail [dot] com
- James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Andrew Hansford
- Geoff Hubbs
- Paul Plassman
- C.J. Mahan.com | Clays Ferry Bridge - Builder ID for 1998 span
Comments
I have further researched this bridge. The bridge seen today has a superstructure that is 100% from 1998, and it sits on a substructure that is a merged combination of three generations of previous bridges, 1946, 1963, and 1998. As such the bridge seen today was not built by Mount Vernon Bridge Company. I don't have the time but if someone wants to split these pages I would move the photos around as needed.
Wanted to share a link to the clays ferry bridge dedication video on 16mm film from 1946. Only video of the dedication that I have found!
There are some conflicting statements in the forum on this bridge, and the information shown is misleading. Firstly, I field visited this bridge and ALL connections are bolted, and ALL members are rolled steel beams. In addition, a 1989 photo provides clear photographic evidence (with additional confirmation in the caption) that the bridge seen today is not historic, and is instead an all-new truss sitting on (in part) the earlier piers. The 1946 bridge had built-up beams with lattice and v-lacing, and the 1963 bridge had built-up beams with holes. http://www.kyphotoarchive.com/2017/03/06/i-75-clays-ferry-br...
A 1944 construction photo is here: http://www.kyphotoarchive.com/2014/07/02/clays-ferry-bridge-...
I can verify that the old bridge was never imploded. The original span was kept in place, twinned and then joined.
That 1946 span was erected by the Mt. Vernon Bridge Co. I think it was, at the time, the highest highway bridge east of the Mississippi. My father was the Engineer on that.
That 1946 span was erected by the Mt. Vernon Bridge Co. I think it was, at the time, the highest highway bridge east of the Mississippi. My father was the Engineer on that.
Beautiful truss, but it does look that the substructures are all that remain of the 1946 and 1963 structures that the steel truss appears to be completely replaced. Look at where the truss rests on the piers.
Information is wrong about the spans being widened to 6 lanes. The spans were replaced and the old spans were demolished, I saw them fall into the Kentucky River.
I WANTED TO KNOW FROM BRIDGE TO THE WATER, HOW MANT FEET IT IS DOWNWARD? I KNOW ITS A LONG WAY DOWN. NOT THE LITTLE CLAYS FERRY BRIDGE, BUT THE I-75 BRIDGE GOING ACROSS THE KENTUCKY RIVER. JUST CURIOUS, THANK YOU
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ky/fayette/clays-ferry/
Nathan,
Done.
https://bridgehunter.com/ky/fayette/bh96182/
https://bridgehunter.com/ky/fayette/bh96183/
It appears that photo 9 on the 1998 bridge page is the only one that needs to be moved, to BH 96182.