Submitted photo

Work continues on replacing Greenup’s Main Street bridge.

slideshow

By RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY

PDT Staff Writer

GREENUP, Ky. — A Kentucky Transportation Cabinet project to replace Greenup’s Main Street bridge is progressing as contractors remove the existing 127-year-old span to make way for a more modern concrete and steel structure.

Crews with American Contracting Services Inc., which received a $4.8 million Transportation Cabinet contract for the work, dismantled two sections of the old bridge’s steel truss system this week. The final section should come down within the next few weeks. Through the winter, contractors will focus on drilling foundation shafts and concrete work for the piers and abutments of the new bridge.

During the project, pedestrians are cautioned to stay outside work zones and motorists should watch for construction vehicles in the area. Boat traffic on the Little Sandy River will also be restricted at times. Message boards will indicate when the river is closed.

Expected to be complete by fall of 2012 — depending on weather and river levels — the new two-lane bridge will provide enhanced traffic flow into Greenup along Main Street and will increase state highway system capacity in the region. The bridge will feature a 32-foot-wide, 460-foot-long concrete deck supported by steel beams, and will carry Main street (Ky 2541) traffic across the Little Sandy River along the same route as the old bridge.

Built in 1884 by the King Bridge Co., the old bridge was rehabilitated in 1954 and, despite its one-lane nature, continued to serve traffic needs in Greenup until 2003 when it was closed due to structural deficiencies.

RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 235, or rottney@heartlandpublications.com.