LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Kennedy Bridge underwent emergency lane closures Monday afternoon for repairs in an area long plagued by a faulty joint that connects sections of the roadway. 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which manages the Interstate 65 crossing between Louisville and Jeffersonville, Indiana, announced just before 12:45 p.m. that the left three lanes had been shut down for work on the bridge's finger joints. Around 5:30 p.m., KYTC said in a statement that the lanes will remain closed "until further notice ... to avoid damage to vehicles traveling over the bridge."

An image shared with WDRB News shows what appears to be part of a joint completely broken off in one of the lanes. The joint, which resembles interlocking fingers, connects slabs on the 1960s-era bridge’s deck and lets the structure expand and contract.

KYTC spokeswoman Naitore Djigbenou confirmed Monday afternoon that the damage is limited to a single lane and is part of a joint that previously has been repaired. 

She said in a prepared statement that the lanes will remain closed until a contract is awarded to make repairs. 

Meanwhile, Shawn Bostock of Corydon, Indiana said he observed about 10 vehicles with flat tires on the side of I-65 South on the Kennedy and Interstate 64 East up to Cannons Lane as he drove that route around 8 a.m. 

"There were more that were limping down the road," such as near off ramps to Story Avenue and Grinstead Drive in Louisville, he said by phone Monday afternoon. 

Kennedy Bridge expansion joint

This photo dated May 20, 2024, from a WDRB viewer shows what appears to be part of an expansion joint completely broken off in one of the lanes on the southbound Ohio River bridge. (WDRB/archive)

While KYTC says it can't verify if or how many vehicles suffered tire damage because of the joint, drivers who believe their vehicles were damaged can pursue claims with the Kentucky Public Protection Cabinet’s Office of Claims and Appeals.

John Hoselton, who lives in the nearby Harbours Condominiums in Jeffersonville, said crews were gathered in the area where previous work has occurred on the joint near the Indiana state line. 

"It's the same one right over Riverside Drive in Jeffersonville," Hoselton said in a telephone interview as he looked out his window at the interstate below. 

He said residents have heard the loud clanging associated with prior problems with the joint for about six weeks, and that Kentucky transportation officials were notified. 

A 2021 WDRB investigation revealed that there were "errors in construction" at the expansion joint when the bridge got a $22 million facelift as part of its conversion to one-way traffic during the Ohio River Bridges Project, which also added the Lincoln and Lewis and Clark toll bridges. 

The three spans now make up the RiverLink network. 

Two months after the work, an inspector noticed that the joint was misaligned and moving when trucks passed over it. The Transportation Cabinet told WDRB in 2021 that air pockets developed when the new concrete deck was poured and were not "visible or detectable." 

Those voids have contributed to multiple missing or broken bolts, according to the state response.  

Workers did separate repairs to the joint in summer 2021 and again several months later because of broken bolts. More temporary repairs were done in December 2022. 

In spring 2022, state lawmakers dedicated $1.3 million in the Kentucky highway plan for repair work on the bridge that a spokesman said would include replacing the joint.

In the KYTC statement, spokeswoman Djigbenou didn't provide a timeline for that project. But an email sent in May to Harbours condo owners from the Department of Highways' Louisville district said the bidding process for the replacement work is scheduled for this year. 

Another project for steel repairs also is scheduled this year, according to the email obtained by WDRB.

In a release, KYTC said the right two lanes remain open to traffic Monday.

Drivers should pay close attention to signs and expect delays. KYTC suggests taking an alternative route or use a navigation app like Waze. 

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