Work to repair or replace old or outdated bridges in Trigg County and its two northern neighbors is lagging behind other counties in western Kentucky.
The Bridging Kentucky program, managed by the state transportation cabinet, was enacted as part of the 2018 state highway plan that looks to add at least 30 years of life to bridges through repairs and improvements. If bridge replacement is necessary, the new bridges would have at least 75 years of useful life.
More than 1,000 bridges statewide meet the criteria for the six-year, $700 million program. Trigg County has eight bridges that meet the criteria for repair or replacement with only one project complete since the program began two years ago. That was the Burge Creek Bridge on the South Road near Tanyard Road.
Screening the bridges is a data-driven process to determine the appropriate restoration solution for each bridge.
Five bridges in Trigg County have been screened with replacement recommended. They are Donaldson Creek Road; Hall Cemetery Road over Dyers Creek; Ed Mitchell Road over Brushy Grove Creek; Buffalo Road over Stillhouse Branch; and Brelsford Lane off Grigsby Lane, which is a dead-end road with one home.
Screening is still pending on two bridges — Old Dover Road over Burge Creek and P’Pool Road over Long Pond Branch.
Meanwhile, screening has taken place on four Caldwell County bridge projects and four Lyon County projects. Construction has not begun on any of those.
In Christian County, three bridge projects have been completed in the past two years with one in progress and nine others awaiting work to begin.
According to a national website that tracks the status and ratings of bridges in the state, Trigg County has 12 bridges built in the 1930s still in use. The oldest is located on South Road just north of the Tennessee state line that was built in 1932.
The same website said there are two bridges on Kentucky 91 in Caldwell County built in the 1920s. Lyon County has three bridges built in the 1920s still in use with two of those on Kentucky 93.
The oldest bridge in Christian County still in use crosses the Little River on West 7th Street in Hopkinsville near the jail. It was built in 1903 and saw a renovation completed in 2003.
