What's a Woolpert? Podcast Episode 10: Brent Spence Bridge

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In this month’s What’s a Woolpert? podcast, Woolpert Vice President and Transportation Market Director Judi Craig and Program Director Dave Holstein discuss the largest Midwest transportation project ever, the Brent Spence Bridge. They share how the bridge, which is part of the Interstate 75 corridor where it crosses the Ohio River, has been “functionally obsolete” since 1985.

“The Brent Spence bridge was built in 1963. It was scheduled to open just a couple of days before John F. Kennedy was assassinated. That original design projected that in 50 or 100 years, it would carry 85,000 cars per day. In reality, it carried that amount of cars inside of 20 years,” Judi said. “That caused the bridge to be deemed functionally obsolete in 1985. Functionally obsolete doesn’t mean you’re going to fall into the river, because it’s structurally sound, but to carry that volume of traffic, it’s actually not safe.”

The $3.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project is designed to address these issues by improving the current structure and adding a new companion bridge to reduce congestion, improve traffic flow and safety, and maintain vital regional and national transportation corridors.