View plans for new Cairo bridge at open house today

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's Cairo Bridge Project Team will hold a meeting Thursday to update the public on planning for construction of a new bridge.  

The team plans to share the bridge design type for the new structure that could start construction in 2028. The replacement bridge will be a 40-foot-wide, two-lane bridge featuring 8-foot shoulders and will also support bicycle traffic.

Photos and display materials will be available for viewing and engineers will be on hand to answer questions during the open house.

The meeting will be at Cairo High School from 5 to 8 p.m., with a presentation at 6 p.m. 

The update comes as geotechnical testing for the bridge replacement project is already underway. As of June 29, crews have been drilling in the river upstream from the existing bridge. They'll test soil samples as deep as 400 feet below the riverbed. The testing will provide a better analysis of the soils under the river and give engineers the information necessary to design the foundations for a new bridge.

Drilling will take place 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with work expected to take a couple of months depending on river conditions.

The existing 95-year-old bridge connects Illinois and Kentucky via US 51, 60 and 62, on to the Mississippi River crossing to Missouri just a few miles away. It’s the longest and the westernmost bridge in Kentucky over the Ohio River, and a vital link for a large volume of semi truck traffic.



A lift boat has started geotech drilling in the Ohio River just upstream from the U.S. 51 Cairo bridge, checking riverbed soil density to help with design of piers for a new bridge. The work will take about two months. (Photo KYTC)