The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to halt traffic again on Eggner’s Ferry Bridge across Kentucky Lake for about 15 minutes at noon tomorrow. Engineering crews will be performing the second of three dynamic road tests on the site of the Lagoon Bridge. The first was conducted last Friday.
KYTC Spokesman Keith Todd said the tests consist of placing hundreds of tons of weight on top of pilings at the lake’s bottom and detonating an explosive charge to measure their integrity.
“It’s essentially designed to replicate what might happen if say there’s an earthquake, or if a towboat hits the bridge or if say there was a fully-loaded semi were to crash on the bridge and hit part of the bridge," said Todd.
The data collected will indicate the technical specifications the bridge needs to meet.
"They want this testing completed as quickly as possible because the designers are literally sitting there waiting for the technical information," said Todd. "We're hoping maybe by the end of this year or early next year that we will actually be able to let a contract for construction of the main bridge."
Todd said if everything goes smoothly, they expect the $25 million bridge will be completed by the middle of June 2014.
