Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Bridge
| Kentucky & Indiana Bridge | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Coordinates | 38°16′58.21″N 85°48′5.83″W / 38.2828361°N 85.8016194°WCoordinates: 38°16′58.21″N 85°48′5.83″W / 38.2828361°N 85.8016194°W |
| Crosses | Ohio River |
| Locale | Louisville, Kentucky and New Albany, Indiana |
| Maintained by | Norfolk Southern Railway |
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 6,000 ft (1,830 m) |
| Width | 70 ft (21 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | 1885 |
The Kentucky & Indiana Bridge is one of the first multi modal bridges to cross the Ohio River. It is for both railway and common roadway purposes together. By federal, state, and local law railway and streetcar, wagon-way, and pedestrian modes of travel were intended by the City of New Albany, City of Louisville, State of Kentucky, State of Indiana, the United States Congress, and the bridge owners. The K & I Bridge connects Louisville, Kentucky to New Albany, Indiana. Constructed from 1881 to 1885 by the Kentucky and Indiana Bridge Company, the original K&I Bridge opened in 1886. It included a single standard gauge track and two wagon ways, allowing wagons and other animal powered vehicles to cross the Ohio River by a method other than ferry for the first time. At the time motorized vehicles were virtually nonexistent. The K&I Bridge company also owned a ferry boat operation during both the 1st and 2nd bridge; eventually that operation was sold as the bridge's success largely outmoded boat usage.
The bridge also featured a rotating swing span opening for the passage of ships in high water. The bridge was only opened four times, twice for testing in 1913 and 1915, then in 1916 for the passage of the steamer "Tarascon" and in 1920 for passage of the Australian convict ship "Success". In 1948 it refused opening of the span for passage of the steamer "Gordon C. Greene" citing inconvenience and costs of cutting power and communication lines, an action for which K&I and LG&E both paid damages to that ship's company. In 1955 the K&I sought and received permission to permanently tie down the swing span from the Corps of Engineers.
The Kentucky & Indiana Bridge, which spans the mighty Ohio River at the Falls of the Ohio, was designed to connect the cities of New Albany, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky, and to bring their residents closer together. Citizens of New Albany and Louisville who conceived the bridge described its purpose in Articles of Association for the Kentucky and Indiana Bridge Company filed with the Recorder of Floyd County, Indiana March 7, 1881. The bridge founders declared, the object and purpose of the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge Company is to construct, own, and operate a bridge from a point in the City of New Albany, Indiana across the Ohio River to a point in the City of Louisville, Kentucky for both railway and common roadway purposes together..
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