East End bridge remains on schedule

Workers began pouring concrete into a large tub late last month on the first waterline footing of the East End bridge — a sign the new span's foundation is finally emerging from the Ohio River near the Indiana shoreline a year after construction began.

Project officials say work remains on schedule there and eight miles downriver on a portion of the $2.34 billion project that includes a new Interstate 65 bridge and approaches to it on both sides, including a reconfigured Spaghetti Junction where Interstates 65, 64 and 71 meet in downtown Louisville.

Both new bridges and a refurbished Kennedy Bridge are expected to open with tolls in 2016.

"There is a lot yet to complete, but one year into the project, we're in a very good place," said Rob Morphonios, project director for WVB East End Partners, the consortium contracted to build and maintain the eastern bridge.

The bridge will connect the Gene Snyder Freeway in eastern Jefferson County with the Lee Hamilton Highway in Southern Indiana.

Contractors' staging area for work in the river is an access road that crosses Transylvania Beach Road off River Road, which has allowed heavy vehicles and other equipment to avoid the narrow neighborhood street with riverfront homes. The project purchased homes to create the large area that leads to a temporary trestle — a combination mostly of wooden railroad ties and steel — that extends into river.

Two towers are being built in the river that will serve as the two main piers for the 2,510-foot-long, cable-stayed bridge, Morphonios said.

Workers have drilled shafts on the one closer to the Kentucky shore and a second concrete pour is scheduled this weekend in the precast tub closer to Indiana, said Paul Boone, project manager for the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Residents along Transylvania Beach received letters this week letting them know the concrete pour would begin, weather permitting, at 7 p.m. Friday and continue until about 2 a.m. Sunday.

According to the letter, about 2,200 cubic yards is expected to be poured this weekend.

Cousins Dennis and Jeff Cooper, who live in separate houses on Transylvania Beach, are among those who've had a front-row view as work has picked up in recent months. They say they've learned to live with construction noise and lights, which sometimes happens at all hours.

"It's an amazing project," said Dennis Cooper, who works in home remodeling.

Morning and afternoon blasting continues inside the 1,800-foot twin tunnels under the historic Drumanard Estate, one of several historic preservation aspects of the project. Starting from the tunnels' entrance just south of U.S. 42, workers so far have blasted and dug nearly 1,000 feet into the northbound tunnel and about 1,200 feet into the southbound tunnel, Boone said.

Tunnel excavation is ahead of schedule and should be completed by the end of this year, though blasting will continue in various areas on both sides of the river through the end of next year, Morphonios said.

"On (Ky.) 841, we have gotten traffic moved over to the northbound side to construct the southbound side. You'll see a lot of earth-moving activities going on and placement of rock base," Morphonios said.

Wolf Pen Branch Road is being reconstructed so it passes over the new Ky. 841 lanes. The road will remain open but will be restricted to one lane in each direction until December. This summer, traffic on Ky. 841 will shift to a new alignment from Wolf Pen Branch to U.S. 42, according to project officials.

Excavation and other work also continues near Harrods Creek, where workers are building a new bridge over the creek. This fall, steel beams will be added over River Road and across the creek.

Work also continues across the river in Southern Indiana, where workers have been blasting in fields just north of Utica for the future extension of Ind. 265 and between the Brookhollow and Boulder Creek subdivisions in Jeffersonville.

Brookhollow Way will remain closed through late 2015 for construction of a bridge over Lentzier Creek and two new Ind. 265 overpasses.

And new traffic patterns on Ind. 265, Ind. 62 and Port Road will begin at midsummer.

Morphonios said the design of the Indiana approach to the bridge is about 90 percent completed and utility relocations should be completed this summer.

Utica-Sellersburg Road is expected to be closed until this fall to allow for it to be reconstructed so it passes over the future Ind. 265 alignment.

Under an agreement between Kentucky and Indiana for the bridges project, Kentucky is in charge of the downtown bridge and Spaghetti Junction makeover, while the eastern bridge is being overseen by Indiana.

Reporter Charlie White can be reached at (812) 949-4026 or on Twitter @c_write.