A tow boat struck and damaged some of the form work in place for construction of the New US 68/KY 80 Lake Barkly Bridge at Canton in Trigg County this morning. According to the US Coast Guard Louisville Operation Center, the Harbor Tug Tennessee Hunter was pushing 15 empty barges when the captain reported wind blew the tow into some of the construction forms for Pier 8 on the new bridge about 4:10 a.m., CDT. The captain reported only minimal damage to his starboard lead barge. In the initial report it was not clear if the tow had hit the existing US 68/KY 80 Lake Barkley Bridge at Canton. As a precaution, a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Certified Bridge Inspector was dispatched to the site. Highway traffic was restricted to one lane on the existing bridge for about 90 minutes to allow the inspector to run a safety check on the bridge structure. The inspector found no damage to the existing bridge. However. he reported damage to concrete forms for construction of Pier 8 on the new bridge. After an initial evaluation of the damage with the contractor, the KYTC engineer on the project indicated some of the form work will have to be replaced. It is estimated that the damaged forms will take about a week to replace, maybe more. There appears to be only minor damage to the temporary construction trestle that provides construction access for the new bridge being constructed immediately downstream from the existing bridge. There were no workers on the construction trestle at the time of the incident. PCL Civil Constructors, of Denver, is the prime contractor on the $128.3 million project to build a modern, four-lane bridge to carry U.S. 68/KY 80 over Lake Barkley and serve as the eastern entrance to Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area. The target completion date is late 2017. The existing US 68/KY 80 Cumberland River/Lake Barkley Bridge, also known as the Lawrence Memorial Bridge and the Canton Bridge, carries approximately 3,800 vehicles across Lake Barkley/The Cumberland River in an average day. The bridge is located at US 68 mile point 8.596 in Trigg County and serves as the eastern entrance to Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area. The bridge is at Cumberland River navigational mile point 63.1.
