Clays Ferry Bridge

The Clay's Ferry Bridge is a bridge that carries Interstate 75 along with US 25 and US 421 across the Kentucky River between Madison and Fayette counties.



History
The first Clay's Ferry Bridge was opened in 1869.

After the State of Kentucky purchased it, the bridge was made part of the alignment of US 25 in 1929. Prior to 1869, service across the Kentucky River was provided by ferry.

The bridges tolls were removed on December 24, 1930.

On February 6, 1941, plans for a new high rise span were announced. It was estimated to cost around $935,279. Approval for the construction of the new Clay’s Ferry Bridge was granted by the Secretary of War on September 12, and work on this new span began on October 1st. Well World War II related Steel rationing delayed completion of the superstructure, the piers were competed in January 7, 1943. Steel was eventually obtained After mutiple delays related to winter weather the bridge was officially opened to traffic on August 17, 1946. It was 280 ft above the river level and was the tallest bridge east of the Mississippi after completion, with a total length of 1736 ft.

In 1951, us route 421 was routed over the high rise bridge.

In 1955, the orignal bridge was given a rehibiatation.

In 1963, a twin bridge was completed just south of the existing bridge and traffic ran in two lanes in each direction, With the competion of this new span, the orignal span was made northbound only.

After over two decades of use, a Fatigue Analysis of the Clays Ferry Bridge was completed. This was conducted in 1988 by Theodore Hopwood II, and Vishwas G. Oka, from the Kentucky Transportation Center Research, Report 539. In 1989, plans were announced to demolish the 1946 and 1963 bridge's superstructures and build a third pier. At this point, a new unified superstructure was constructed across all three. This allowed for the addition a extra vehicular lane plus shoulders. Construction started on January 6, 1994. On February 29, 1996, at 3 PM, a crane accident occurred at the Clay’s Ferry Interstate Bridge construction site. 5 A 145-ton crane, while attempting to lift a 17-ton steel beam, leaned forward at a dangerous 30-degree angle, almost tipping off the edge of the 245-foot-tall bridge. Fearing the crane might fall into the river due to vibrations, traffic engineers halted all bridge traffic until 11:15 PM. Another crane was brought in to retrieve the steel beam, stabilizing the tilting crane back to its upright position. 5 Quick thinking by the operator led him to drop the beam onto the river bank below, preventing it from falling off the bridge. The beam was the only item damaged in the incident. In the summer of 1998, crews finished painting the bridge. 6 By November, the bridge was open to accommodate six lanes of traffic. Each northbound/southbound roadway is 60 ft wide, and total traffic over the bridge was 75,000 vehicles per day in 2015.

The most recent resurface project of the Clays Ferry Bridge began on Aug 1, 2021 and was projected to be completed by oct 27 2021. It was completed ahead of schedule on Oct 11, 2021.