John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge
| John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge | |
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The John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge in 2006 as seen from Jeffersonville, Indiana
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| Coordinates | 38°15′52″N 85°44′37″W / 38.26444°N 85.74361°WCoordinates: 38°15′52″N 85°44′37″W / 38.26444°N 85.74361°W |
| Carries | 6 lanes of southbound  I‑65
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| Crosses | Ohio River |
| Locale | Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Cantilever bridge |
| Total length | 2,498 ft (761 m) |
| Longest span | 700 ft (213 m) × 2 spans |
| History | |
| Opened | December 6, 1963 |
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The John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge is a six-lane, single-deck cantilever bridge that carries southbound Interstate 65 across the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana. The main span is 700 feet (213 m) (two spans) and the bridge has a total length of 2,498 feet (761 m). The span carries six southbound lanes. It is named after U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
Designed by the Louisville engineering firm of Hazelet & Erdal, construction began in the spring of 1961 and completed in late 1963 at a cost of $10 million. The span was unnamed when U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Four days later, Kentucky Governor Bert T. Combs announced that there was wide agreement that the bridge would be named in Kennedy's honor. The bridge was dedicated and opened for northbound traffic on December 6, and southbound traffic began flowing a few weeks later.
Between the late 1990s and 2006, the bridge was covered with rust-like spots and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had failed in attempts to rectify this, a subject of local controversy. The state twice paid contractors to repaint the bridge who then failed to do so. The attempts cost over $23 million, with little apparent result. The first of the two contracts, awarded in 1999, ended two years later in a bribery scandal that resulted in criminal prosecution.
In October 2006, the state awarded a $14.7 million contract to Intech Contracting of Lexington to paint half the bridge by the summer of 2007. The new contract differed in that the project was split in two, and the original plans for a three color paint scheme were replaced with a simpler all beige colored one. The very southernmost portion of the bridge was completed in three colors (brown, beige, and green), although this will be painted over.
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