LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Inspections took place Wednesday on two Ohio River bridges.
The right southbound lane on the Kennedy Bridge was closed at 9 a.m. so Kentucky and Indiana Transportation officials could conduct joint inspections.
Inspectors planned to close lanes on the Sherman Minton Bridge from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The joint walk-though inspections by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Indiana Department of Transportation are conducted once a year on bridges along the Ohio River to provide engineers a chance to review the structural integrity and discuss future maintenance.
Traffic backup on the Kennedy Bridge on Wednesday morning was a familiar sight for drivers. Bridge deck repairs forced some lane closures for more than a month this summer on the Kennedy Bridge.
WDRB's Tamara Evans spoke with commuters that have been frustrated with the traffic delays caused by the recent bridge work.
"Gas isn't cheap," said John Heinz as he pumped fuel into his car. "It's $4 a gallon. "This car takes premium so it's affected me a lot, especially when you have that stop-and-go traffic, you know?"
The Sherman Minton Bridge was the other bridge that gave drivers a headache this year. It shut down last September when cracks were found. After five months of new routes for drivers, major delays, and traffic backup, the bridge finally reopened.
Now, engineers are back on both bridges with specific things to look for and talk about. "Items from previous inspection reports...to look at them and see if there are any deterioration or see if anything has changed in the conditions. They talk about future maintenance needs for the structures that they're inspecting," says Andrea Clifford with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
Many of the engineers are getting a first look at some repairs that were made this year, while drivers are hoping nothing unexpected is found during that time.
"I'm hoping they find no problems. I'm tired of all the bridge work. It's ridiculous," says driver Ariel Allan.
"If there were something major that we thought was to impact traffic, they would let us know and we would take the appropriate measures to make sure the public is safe. If there was a need to close the bridge, we would certainly do that. We have not been told of anything at this point," says Andrea Clifford.
The Milton-Madison Bridge is scheduled to be inspected on Thursday.
Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
