U.S. 45 Ohio River “Brookport” Bridge to Close for Maintenance Wednesday, Dec. 1

Photo: Paducah Drone

Closure to allow deck maintenance and planning for future navigation light work

PADUCAH, KY (Nov. 27, 2021)  The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to temporarily close the U.S. 45 Ohio River “Brookport” Bridge between Paducah, KY, and Brookport, IL, on Wednesday, December 1, 2021.

The bridge will close promptly at 7 a.m., CST, and remain closed until approximately 2 p.m., CST, on Wednesday.

This temporary closure of the U.S. 45 Ohio River “Brookport” Bridge is to allow repairs to the grated metal decking.  The KYTC District 1 Bridge Crew will also work on guardrail and other maintenance items.  KYTC engineers plan to run maintenance checks on the navigation lighting and work up plans for future enhancements to the lighting control system.

Due to the placement of equipment to facilitate the work, the bridge will have to be closed to all traffic from 7 a.m., to 2 p.m., Wednesday.

There will be no marked detour.  Motorists may self-detour via the Interstate 24 Ohio River Bridge.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will attempt to provide timely notice should the planned work be completed earlier than expected.

As a reminder, the U.S. 45 Ohio River “Brookport” Bridge has a 15-ton load limit.  Due to deck width, it is 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.

Also known as the Brookport Bridge and the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge, the U.S. 45 Ohio River Bridge is at McCracken County mile point 12.882 at the Kentucky-Illinois State Line.

The 10-span bridge carries approximately 4,200 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 opened to traffic in 1929.

To get traffic advisories and alerts on the Brookport Bridge via email go to https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/KYTC/signup/13651 and click on the U.S. 45 Ohio River “Brookport” Bridge Group. You may also sign up for counties in Kentucky you regularly drive through or on any of the other specialty corridors you travel. Be sure to check your SPAM filtering to assure GovDelivery is on your approved list.