UPDATE: At 1 p.m., CST, a KY Transportation Cabinet certified bridge inspector completed a safety check on the bridge. Observations confirmed only a scrape on the pier and no damage to the bridge structure.
PADUCAH, Ky. (Feb. 23, 2020) – The U.S. Coast Guard reports a barge hit on the U.S. 45 Ohio River “Brookport” Bridge at Paducah this morning.
A towboat pushing 8 empty barges scraped a pier on the main Kentucky span of the structure.
The Coast Guard immediately contacted the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to dispatch a certified bridge inspector to run a safety check on the bridge. Due to the minor nature of the pier scrape highway traffic was allowed to continue on the bridge. However, traffic may have to be halted a short time to allow an inspector to access the bridge.
An update on the inspection is expected in the next hour.
Also known as the Brookport Bridge and the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge, the US 45 Ohio River
The 10-span bridge carries approximately 5,100 vehicles across the Ohio River each day between Paducah, KY, and Brookport, IL.
The 5,385 ft. structure at Ohio River navigation mile point 937.3 was opened to traffic in 1929. Due to deck width, the bridge has a 15-ton load limit. It is currently restricted to vehicles no more than 8 feet wide and has a 9 ft. 6 in. vehicle height restriction, which prohibits most commercial trucks and prohibits all STAA Trucks. Farm equipment and permitted loads of any kind are prohibited from crossing the structure.