Lake Barkley Bridge

As part of the upgrading of US Route 68 and KY Route 80 to four lanes throughout southern Kentucky, the old Lake Barkley Bridge was proposed to be replaced with a modern four-lane crossing.

In mid-2007, the bridge selection process began which included evaluating arch, girder, conventional truss, and cable-stay designs. ² A tied-arch design unique to the state was selected on July 14, 2009. The proposed bridge would include four 11-foot travel lanes and an eight-foot pedestrian and cycling path. ¹

Construction of the new Lake Barkley Bridge began by PCL Civil Construction of Denver in February 2015, ^{5 6} and a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Governor Steve Beshear and other state and local leaders was held on July 22. ⁷ The 550-foot, 5-million-pound arch main span, built off-site, was lifted into place on December 14, 2017. ⁶ The old Lake Barkley Bridge was demolished on April 11, 2018, at 7:20 a.m. and ⁴ the new Lake Barkley Bridge opened to two-lane traffic on February 12 ⁴ and to four-lane traffic on October 2018. ³ It was finished at the cost of $128.3 million. ⁶