Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), Jim Smith Contracting, and a demolition sub-contractor have established a tentative schedule for explosive demolition of the Old U.S. 60 Cumberland River Bridge at Smithland around October 20.
The schedule could vary based on weather when explosives are placed on the bridge structure in the last few days of blast preparations.
Prep work that includes saw cutting of the concrete decking on the main span of the 92-year-old structure started this week. Once the deck is removed using heavy equipment, a sub-contractor will cut key locations on the main truss before placing explosives to bring down the truss and approach spans.
A prep crew has begun placing protective barriers on the truss to prepare for installation of explosives immediately prior to the demolition. Removing the concrete decking from the through-truss main span will take several weeks. The explosives crew plans to take down the truss and approach spans at the same time.
The explosive demolition of the old bridge in late-October will require the new bridge to be closed for several hours and require commercial tow boat and pleasure boat traffic to be halted for about 24 hours on the Cumberland River.
Once the main truss is dropped into the river, a crane mounted on barges will remove remnants of the steel truss from the river to allow the steel to be recycled.
The demolition team will then start on efforts to remove the concrete piers.
The New U.S. 60 Cumberland River bridge at Smithland, also known as the Jim R. Smith Memorial Bridge and the Smithland Bridge, opened to traffic on May 15.
About 5,100 vehicles cross the Smithland Bridge in an average day. The bridge is at Cumberland River navigation mile point 2.7.
