Kansas Turnpike Bridges
The first bridges were a pair of deck trusses, each carrying two lanes of traffic. The bridges were the site of the groundbreaking of the Turnpike on December 31, 1954. The bridges, along with the rest of the Turnpike, was opened for a day of free travel on October 20, 1956, between 6 a.m. and 2pm., then opened for regular traffic on October 25 at 10 a.m.
The bridge was widened and rebuilt sometime after 1973.
By 2007, the bridges were considered to be at the end of their design life, and a project to replace the bridges was begun. The first of the two new bridge was opened to traffic in October 2009, carrying 2 lanes in each direction., with the demolition of the old bridge occurring with several blasts, the first of which occurred on November 15, 2009 and the last on January 13, 2010. The second bridge was completed in late 2010, with traffic moved onto the new bridge on November 29.
References
- ^ "Big Impact Seen For Local Area In Superhighway". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. October 24, 1956. pp. 1–2.
- ^ Fagan, Mark (October 22, 2009). "Thousands of vehicles to roll across new bridge today". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
- ^ "Kansas River Bridges update #65" (Press release). Kansas Turnpike Authority. November 28, 2010. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
- ^ "KTA Officials Say Traffic Heavy on Pike This Morning". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. October 20, 1956. p. 2.
- ^ Lawhorn, Chad (August 3, 2007). "5 bridges in county 'deficient'". Lawrence Journal-World. pp. 1A, 5A. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
- ^ Fagan, Mark (November 16, 2009). "Bridge no match for explosives". Lawrence Journal-World. pp. 1A, 4A. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
- ^ "Another piece of turnpike bridge falls into Kansas River basin". Lawrence Journal-World. January 13, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
Crossings of the Kansas River | ||||
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