1963 I-75+I-71 Brent Spence Bridge over Ohio River at Cincinnati, OH

(Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; B&T; Satellite)

This is another bridge that was designed by the engineering firm Modjeski and Masters.

Street View, Apr 2019

 

The upper deck has yet to be completed.

1963 view via BridgeHunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)

WCPO via BridgeHunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)

"Starting on March 1, 2021, the Brent Spence Bridge underwent a routine maintenance project to clean and paint the superstructure, which was completed ahead of schedule on November 15." [B&T]

Street View, Sep 2021

BrentSpenceBridgeCorridor
The bridge was designed to carry 80-100,000 vehicles per day. It currently carries twice that volume.
The bridge was reconfigured in 1985 to provide an additional travel lane on each deck.
--  Before: three 12-feet lanes + approximately five-feet shoulders
--  Now: four 11-feet lanes + one-foot shoulders

The plan is to implement the preferred alternative that was picked in 2012. The new bridge would be built immediately west of the current bridge. The problem is that it seems that every year they just crank out another report that says we should design and build the bridge ([BrentSpenceBridgeCorridor-documents]), but then nothing happens. I by no means looked at every document, but I did find this in the 2020 documents.

TrafficAndConceptAnalysis, p17

Please click Sherman's link and scroll down for some details about the tortured history concerning the capacity improvement plans.

1 of 3 photos posted by Bridges & Tunnels with Sherman Cahal

The Brent Spence Bridge is looking better than ever after a routine painting and maintenance project was completed last year. This double-deck crossing carries Interstates 71 and 75 across the Ohio River between Covington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio.

➵ Check out more photos and history of the Brent Spence Bridge at http://bridgestunnels.com/location/brent-spence-bridge/

I skipped to the chase concerning the documents and found:

2022 Report, p16

So after decades of consuming taxpayer's money for planning, they still don't have an Interstate Cooperative Agreement written.

Apr 2023:

Given the line "WORKING TOGETHER TO IMPROVE THE BRENT SPENCE BRIDGE CORRIDOR" on this website, I presume they finally signed an agreement.

The Cincinnati perspective of the project

I learned about this project because the design of the new Western Hills Viaduct interchange with I-75 has to coordinate with this project.

14:54 video

FOX19 posted
The designs for the new Companion Bridge in the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project have been released to the public. Here's what it will look like >> https://www.fox19.com/.../new-brent-spence-bridge-design.../

Tim York: Why two double decker bridges side by side

Matt Bruning: Tim York smaller footprint and the existing bridge will handle local traffic exiting the interstate into Cincinnati or Covington. The new bridge will handle I-71/75 through traffic.

[One advantage of the need for a lot more capacity is that it saves the old bridge.]

Bridges Now and Then shared