Work scheduled on and near Cairo bridge

Repair work on the approach to the Ohio River bridge on U.S. 51 between Cairo, Illinois, and Wickliffe, Kentucky, is slated to start this week and will last for several months, according to the Kentucky Transporation Cabinet.

The initial work zone on the Kentucky side of the bridge approach will include levee maintenance and roadway improvements from mile point 4.873 at the end of the Willow Slough "Mile Long" Bridge, extending westward to mile point 6.658 near the Minor Slough Bridge. This 1.77 mile section includes several phases of work that will ramp up over the next month.

A second round of work is expected to start sometime during the week of June 8. The work will require an extended work zone lane restriction on the Ohio River bridge to allow for deck and joint work which will restrict vehicle widths to 8.5 feet.

The bridge work will include a concrete deck overlay and expansion joint replacement. The $8 million repair and maintenance project is slated for completion by Oct. 1.

Also known as The Cairo Bridge, the span between Alexander County, Illinois, and Ballard County, Kentucky, carries an average of 4,700 vehicles daily across the Ohio River between Cairo and Wickliffe. It was opened to traffic Nov. 11, 1936.