Extensive damage to western Kentucky bridge limits options for fixing it

LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES — Kentucky transportation officials are still assessing what’s left and what can be salvaged of the 80-year-old Eggner’s Ferry Bridge after a barge carrying rocket parts burst through a section of it Thursday night.

Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Mike Hancock held a briefing for reporters Friday after surveying the damage.

The barge took out a 322-ft. span of the bridge, a big chunk that limits what construction crews could do to temporarily fix it, Hancock said.

The two-lane bridge was slated to be replaced by a four-lane bridge.“We were hoping to get a couple more years out of it until the new bridge could be put into operation,” Hancock said.

Watch and hear what happened Thursday night and what could happen next with the bridge:

The bridge carries an average of 2,800 cars per day across U.S. 68/80 between Trigg and Marshall counties.

- Video and reporting by Chris Bratton