Officials with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet say a barge hit the U.S. 68 Tennessee River/Kentucky Lake Eggners Ferry Bridge overnight but no damage was reported to the bridge structure.
District 1 spokesman Keith Todd with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the U.S. Coast Guard Louisville Operations Center reported around 11:30 Tuesday night the Motor Vessel William Neckel was heading upstream when the pilot indicated windy conditions pushed the tow of six empty barges into the left descending main pier of the bridge. He says a wire securing some of the barges broke as a result of the incident and was quickly replaced by the crew.
Todd says there was no damage to the barges and the pilot indicated the tow only scraped the pier.
According to Todd, a certified bridge inspector conducted a safety check on the bridge and found no damage to the pier.
The U.S. 68/KY 80 Eggners Ferry Bridge serves as the western entrance to Land Between the Lakes National Recreational Area. The new basket handle arch bridge was first opened to 2-lane traffic in December 2015 with 4-lane traffic starting in December 2016. The design is a twin of the U.S. 68 Lake Barkley Bridge at Canton.
