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Owensboro's Natcher Bridge Has Winning Design
Length:
4,510 feet
Main Span: 1,200 feet
2 Side Spans: each 500 feet
Construction Cost: $70 million
Opened to Traffic: October 2002 |
The William
H. Natcher Bridge in Owensboro, Kentucky is one of the longest
cable-stayed spans over a
U.S. inland waterway system. Its
unique design won it an award from
the American Council of Engineering Companies in March, out of
165
projects in contention.
"This new bridge improves accessibility from Kentucky to
Indiana in the growing metropolitan Owensboro area," according
to James C. Codell, III Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's Secretary
and President of the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials.
He explained that the project was an important connector for the
residents of Kentucky and Indiana, in terms of economic growth,
as well as providing easier, faster access to the industrial corridor
along Interstate 64 and US 231. The nearly mile-long bridge connects
Owensboro, Kentucky, with Rockport, Indiana.
Roads &
Bridges Magazine also named the bridge as one of the top 10 bridges
in its November, 2002 issue. According to Bill Wilson, the monthly
magazine's editor, the bridge projects were chosen based on size,
impact and contractor challenges.
To protect
the bridge from erosion, an extensive state-of-the-art hydraulic
analysis was conducted for the entire 35-square-mile site. Most
of the area is a floodplain, inundated at least once a year. Many
innovative details were incorporated into the design to accommodate
the fast-flowing Ohio River. The four-lane bridge is also the
first in the U.S. to feature cable stays anchored into steel frames
inside the concrete towers. The distinctive diamond-shaped towers
have already become a regional landmark.
Parsons Brinckerhoff
Quade & Douglas Inc. was the principal designer of the bridge,
and Traylor Brothers of Evansville, Indiana built it. Traylor
Brothers also built Kentucky's only other cable-stayed bridge,
located in Maysville.
The bridge
– named for William H. Natcher, a native of Bowling Green,
Kentucky, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from
1953 until his death in 1994 – was commissioned by the Kentucky
Transportation Cabinet, in cooperation with the Indiana Department
of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
American
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
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