A replacement span was lifted into place today on the U.S. 68 Eggners Ferry Bridge at Aurora. Construction workers will be swarming the site over the coming days to start the next step in the bridge restoration process.
Workers had already pre-placed supplies they needed to start putting reinforcing steel and forms on the span to prepare for pouring of a new concrete deck. Some of the wooden support structure for the concrete forms had been placed on the span before it was transported Monday from the assembly site at Eddyville to the bridge site.
The new deck will closely match the existing 22-foot wide deck on the rest of the 81-year-old structure.
Spectators lined overlooks along the lake today and at times more than a dozen pleasure boats floated around the bridge to watch the 300-ton steel truss lifted into place by two huge cranes.
Eggners Ferry Bridge has been closed since Jan. 26 when the 8,200-ton cargo ship, Delta Mariner, slammed into the bridge and knocked a single 322-foot span into Kentucky Lake.
Hall Contracting has a $7 million contract to replace the missing span and get the bridge reopened to traffic by Memorial Day weekend.
