Kentucky and Indiana Bridge (Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky)

 truss bridge, railway bridge

Through truss railroad bridge erected between 1910 and 1912. The existing Kentucky and Indiana Bridge replaced an earlier span that opened in 1886. Built primarily to carry railroad and local interurban traffic between New Albany and Louisville, the K&I was one of the largest and heaviest plain truss bridges in the world at the time it was completed. The complete span, including approaches, measured nearly 6,000 feet in length and 225 feet in height from its highest point to the normal river surface. The bridge’s 70-foot width originally included two pairs of railroad lines flanked by wagon ways paved with creosoted wooden blocks. These blocks handled automobile traffic until 1952, when they were replaced with a steel gridwork. The K&I accommodated vehicular traffic until early 1979, when a road bed partially collapsed under the weight of an overloaded gravel truck. It continues to carry railroad traffic.
Struck by an asphalt barge in 2006. No damage incurred.

There are plans to convert the automobile lanes into pedestrian and bicycle lanes in the future.