Brent Spence Bridge

Brent Spence Bridge
The Brent Spence Bridge is the furthest bridge to the right as viewed from Downtown Cincinnati
Coordinates	39°05′27″N 84°31′22″W / 39.09087°N 84.52291°W / 39.09087; -84.52291
Carries	8 lanes (4 upper, 4 lower) of I‑71 / I‑75
Crosses	Ohio River
Locale	Covington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio
Characteristics
Design	Cantilever bridge
Total length	1,736 feet (529 m)
Longest span	830.5 feet (253.1 m)
History
Construction cost	$10 million
Opened	November 25, 1963

The Brent Spence Bridge is a double decker, cantilevered truss bridge that carries Interstates 71 and 75 across the Ohio River between Covington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. The top deck carries Kentucky-bound traffic while the bottom deck carries Ohio-bound traffic.

The bridge was named for Kentucky's longest serving congressman at the time, Brent Spence, who served in the U.S. Congress for over thirty years before retiring in 1962. The bridge, which opened a year after his retirement, was named in his honor by then Kentucky governor Bert T. Combs. Spence did not feel that he deserved the honor, and lobbied for the Bridge to be named for President Kennedy (who had been assassinated only three days before the bridge was supposed to open). Combs, however, resisted this effort as modesty by Spence and kept the name, though Combs would name the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky (which opened two weeks after the Spence) after the late president just days after Kennedy's assassination.

When the bridge opened in November 1963, it carried only three lanes of traffic each way across the Ohio River. In 1985, the emergency shoulders were eliminated, and the bridge was re-striped with four lanes in each direction, increasing the traffic capacity by 33%, earning the bridge the determination of being 'functionally obsolete' due to carrying more traffic for which it was originally designed. The bridge was designed to carry 85,000 vehicles per day, but in 2006 it carried 150,000 vehicles per day. Recent reports show that contrary to previous traffic expectations, traffic on the Brent Spence Bridge has actually decreased by 9 percent between 2009 and 2015.

On September 15, 2011, chunks of concrete from the Ohio side ramp connected to the bridge fell on to a vehicle. This incident lead to the belief that the Brent Spence Bridge was in immediate need of replacement and in danger of collapse, although this has been rebuked by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and has continued to be declared safe.