Rating:
3 votes

John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge

Jefferson County, Kentucky, and Clark County, Indiana

Photos 

Overview

Photo taken June 2005 by Desirae Krell

BH Photo #103321

Map 

Street View 

Not to be confused with bridge in Longport, NJ 

This bridge should not be confused with the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge in Longport, New Jeresy which is a concrete stringer bridge over the Risley Channel.

For the bridge in Longport, please see http://bridgehunter.com/nj/atlantic/bh80483/

Facts 

Overview
Cantilevered through truss bridge over Ohio River on I-65 in Louisville
Location
Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, and Clark County, Indiana
Status
Being reconfigured for one way traffic
Future prospects
Flooring support being refurbished and repaired, expected to add 30 years to the bridges life.
History
Built 1963 by the Allied Structural Steel Company. Rebuilt 2016 to serve southbound only traffic
Builders
- Allied Structural Steel Co. of Chicago, Illinois (Iron/Steel Manufacturer)
- Hazelet + Erdal of Chicago, Illinois (Design)
Design
Cantilevered Warren through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 700.0 ft.
Total length: 2,497.3 ft. (0.5 mi.)
Deck width: 85.9 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 28.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+38.26444, -85.74333   (decimal degrees)
38°15'52" N, 85°44'36" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/609936/4235902 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Jeffersonville
Average daily traffic (as of 2014)
140,640
Inventory numbers
KY 056-B00214N (Kentucky bridge number)
BH 18828 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of September 2014)
Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 66 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

AISC Award Winner (21)
Allied Structural Steel Co. (4)
Built 1963 (229)
Built during 1960s (2,002)
Cantilevered (308)
Cantilevered truss (250)
Clark County, Indiana (72)
Have street view (26,371)
Hazelet + Erdal (12)
Indiana (4,857)
Interstate 65 (7)
Jefferson County, Kentucky (128)
Kentucky (1,302)
 Louisville, Kentucky (69)
Navigable waterway (2,128)
Ohio River (111)
Owned by state (15,699)
Span length 500-1000 feet (384)
State line crossing (834)
Through truss (14,767)
Toll (164)
Total length 1000-2500 feet (1,853)
Truss (32,311)
Under construction (70)
Warren through truss (1,592)
Warren truss (6,439)

Update Log 

  • October 23, 2019: New photos from Mike Daffron
  • February 19, 2018: Essay added by Amanda
  • March 12, 2016: Updated by Stephen Greer: Updated to reflect new bridge
  • July 11, 2014: New photos from Andrew Raker
  • July 10, 2014: New photos from Andrew Raker
  • February 11, 2013: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added Designer.
  • February 9, 2013: New photos from J.P.
  • April 5, 2010: Updated by J.P.: add street view
  • March 7, 2010: New photos from J.P.
  • October 26, 2009: New photo from J.P.
  • October 23, 2009: New photo from J.P.
  • December 21, 2008: New photo from Nathan Morton
  • May 28, 2008: New photos from Joe Virruso
  • April 3, 2006: Posted photo from Desirae Krell

Sources 

  • Desirae Krell
  • Joe Virruso - virrusofamily [at] att [dot] net
  • Nathan Morton - morton890 [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • J.P. - wildcatjon2000 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Wikipedia
  • Nathan Holth
  • Andrew Raker
  • Stephen Greer
  • Mike Daffron - daffmikron [at] gmail [dot] com
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Comments 

John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge
Posted May 30, 2013, by J.P. (wildcatjon2000 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend!!!

John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge
Posted September 24, 2011, by Tom Hoffman (tehoffm [at] hotmail [dot] com)

There has been talk for years on building the East End bridge to connect I-265 across the Ohio River to the east of this bridge. There has also been talk on building a four tower cable stayed bridge beside the JFK bridge for northbound traffic. I'd say the building the East End bridge first would be important to see how it may relieve congestion from this bridge and see if there is really need for a northbound I-65 bridge.

John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge
Posted May 26, 2010, by Jim (lueken [at] bellsouth [dot] net)

Interesting note. There was no official name for the bridge...just I-65 bridge. It had just openend when JFK was assasinated, thus it the got christened the JFK Memorial bridge.

John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge
Posted April 15, 2010, by J.P.

This bridge will be closed Saturday night from 8:00 Pm to 10:30 Pm for Thunder over Louisville. Just curious is this the only interstate bridge that is shut down for a event like this?

John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge
Posted August 11, 2006, by Keith Norris (Keith7ky [at] aolcom)

The state of Kentucky has been trying unsucessfully for the past 7 years to paint this bridge. State inspectors were caught taking bribes from the first contractor, and the state kicked the contractor off the job. The contractor sued the state for breach of contract. The second contractor couldn't complete the job and was fired. The state is now trying to find bidders for the job, but in the most recent bidding, only one contractor bid on the job. Meanwhile, the Kennedy Bridge continues to be a rusty eyesore. Let's hope they can figure out a way to get it painted before it crumbles and falls into the river.