Carroll Lee Cropper Bridge

The Carroll Lee Cropper Bridge carries Interstate 275 over the Ohio River between Boone County, Kentucky and Dearborn County, Indiana.

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The Carroll Lee Cropper Bridge, a continuous steel arch-shaped truss structure, carries Interstate 275 over the Ohio River between Boone County, Kentucky, and Dearborn County, Indiana.

History

Planning for a freeway beltway around Cincinnati began in the early 1950s. Separate concepts in Ohio and Kentucky were eventually combined into what became known as the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Area Bypass. ¹

By the late 1950s, the project had been renamed the Circle Freeway. It soon conflicted with a proposal for a toll bridge between Petersburg, Kentucky, and Lawrenceburg, Indiana. ⁹ That plan originated in April 1956, when U.S. Representative Earl Wilson of Indiana introduced a bill to establish the Lawrenceburg Bridge Company. ¹ The company would issue bonds to build the bridge and repay them through tolls. The bill passed, but with construction costs estimated at $10 million, the effort advanced slowly.

Officials in Kentucky and Indiana grew concerned that the Circle Freeway would divert as much as 40% of the potential traffic needed to support the toll bridge. ⁹ In response, leaders from both states began pressing to shift the freeway’s alignment ten miles west so it would incorporate the planned bridge location. Under this realignment, the bridge could be built without tolls and funded largely through the Interstate Highway System. Although the idea gained support from Boone County Judge Carroll Cropper and Representative Wilson, ¹ Ohio officials resisted, citing the loss of industrial development opportunities along the original route. ⁹

In March 1962, the highway departments of Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana announced plans for an 80-mile, $153 million freeway encircling Cincinnati. ¹¹ The design incorporated the 21.3-mile Circle Freeway already underway in northern Hamilton County and an additional 33 miles previously approved by the Bureau of Public Roads. The updated route included a new Ohio River crossing located 1.4 miles east of Lawrenceburg, effectively replacing the earlier toll bridge proposal. ¹⁰

The Federal Bureau of Public Lands approved the bridge site in northern Kentucky in March 1963, ¹ followed by approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1964. ¹⁰ Land acquisition for the river crossing began in 1967. ¹

Ohio River Bridge

Bids for the construction of the $10 million bridge were opened in March 1968, ⁴ and work on the four central river piers began that June. ¹ The Dravo Corporation of Pittsburgh completed those piers in March 1969 at a cost of $2.2 million. ³ Excavation for the land piers supporting the approach spans began in January 1971 under a subcontract to National Engineering and Contracting, with costs totaling $3.2 million. ¹³

The Kentucky Highway Department opened bids for the bridge’s superstructure on September 18, 1970. ² Designed by Hazelet + Erdal of Chicago, the structure featured a steel arch with a deck suspended over the main span by cables. The Nashville Bridge Company of Nashville, Tennessee, received the construction contract. ^{2 13}

During this period, Kentucky was extending Interstate 275 westward from Interstate 75 to the new bridge. Indiana, however, had only begun acquiring right-of-way for its 3.7-mile segment due to budget limitations. ^{2 4} The state received $55 million annually in federal interstate funding, and completing its portion of Interstate 275 would require nearly $22 million because of the extensive earthwork needed to raise the roadway above the floodplain. ⁵

Indiana began construction of its segment in January 1973. ^{4 6} By May 1974, the bridge’s superstructure was largely complete, with only the deck remaining. ^{1 7} Paving contracts for the Indiana portion of the interstate followed soon after.

The Interstate 275 bridge was dedicated to Carroll Cropper by Governor Julian Carroll during an indoor ceremony on December 6, 1977. ^{1 8}

Rehabilitation and Repairs

The bridge later underwent a $6.7 million deck rehabilitation project between November 2014 and the fall of 2015. ¹²

A steel repair project on the bridge began on January 20, 2025. ¹⁴ The work followed a federally required March 2023 inspection of older bridges built with T-1 steel, a treated steel valued for its weldability and machinability. Inspectors from the Michael Baker International Corporation tested 600 welds and identified 88 locations for future repair. ^{14 15} Although the findings did not present an immediate safety concern, the project moved forward to address them proactively. A follow-up inspection in July 2024 identified additional structural deficiencies. ¹⁵

Alongside the T-1 steel repairs, crews completed work on the expansion joints and floor beams ¹⁵

The T-1 steel repairs were originally scheduled to begin in January 2025 and conclude by May, but added work pushed completion into late 2025. ¹⁵ Delays stemmed from the need for a revised shoring plan following the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge fire, peregrine falcon nests that required coordination with the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife, and concurrent repairs to the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge.

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Gallery

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Details

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Sources

1. “Interstate 275 – Cincinnati, Ohio Beltway.” Interstate-Guide.com, 27 Sept. 2016.
2. Renneisen, Jim. “Kentucky Set To Finish Job On I-275 Bridge.” Courier-Journal [Louisville], 26 Aug. 1970, p. A4.
3. “Bridge Work is Under Way.” Courier-Journal [Louisville], 15 Mar. 1969, p. B1.
4. Ford, Stephen. “Kentucky, Ohio unhappy over Indiana I-275 lag.” Courier-Journal [Louisville], 7 Aug. 1972, pp. A1-A13.
5. Fagan, Steve. “$12 million bridge across Ohio River may stand unused.” Courier-Journal [Louisville], 5 Nov. 1971, p. Indiana-5.
6. “Circle Freeway Bridge Span Takes Shape.” Cincinnati Enquirer, 27 Jan. 1973, p. 19.
7. “A bridge over river waters.” Courier-Journal [Louisville], 14 Mar. 1974, p. Indiana-8.
8. “New Bridge Links Circle Freeway.” Marion Star, 7 Dec. 1977, p. 24.
9. “Ohio Agrees To Look West On Circle Freeway.” Cincinnati Enquirer, 1 Sept. 1959, p. 4D.
10. “Circle Freeway Bridge Site.” Cincinnati Enquirer, 29 Aug. 1964, p. 2.
11. “Governors Urge Freeway To Encircle Cincinnati.” Cincinnati Enquirer, 31 Mar. 1962, p. 1.
12. “Carroll Cropper Bridge construction begins.” Cincinnati Enquirer, 30 Oct. 2014, p. A2.
13. West, Carl. “Start land pier work for span at Petersburg.” Kentucky Post, 18 Jan. 1971, p. A1.
14. “Steel repairs on a Boone County bridge to start Monday.” LinkNKY, 19 Jan. 2025.
15. “I-275 Carroll Cropper Bridge Updates.” Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.