Kansas Turnpike Bridges

The Kansas Turnpike Bridges are a pair of multi-beam girder bridge that carry the Kansas Turnpike and Interstate 70 over the Kansas River at Lawrence, Kansas.

Kansas Turnpike Bridges
Coordinates38.9920°N 95.2393°W / 38.9920; -95.2393
Carries6 lanes of I-70 / Kansas Turnpike
CrossesKansas River
LocaleLawrence, Kansas
Maintained byKTA
Characteristics
Design2 Deck Truss Bridges (original spans),
2 multi-beam girder bridges (current span)
History
Opened1956 (original spans)[1]
2009 (current westbound span)[2]
2010 (current eastbound span)[3]
Location

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.[1] 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.,[4] then opened for regular traffic on October 25 at 10 a.m.[1]

By 2007, the bridges were considered to be at the end of their design life, and a project to replace the bridges was begun.[5] The first of the two new bridge was opened to traffic in October 2009, carrying 2 lanes in each direction.,[2] with the demolition of the old bridge occurring with several blasts, the first of which occurred on November 15, 2009[6] and the last on January 13, 2010.[7] The second bridge was completed in late 2010, with traffic moved onto the new bridge on November 29.[3]

References
  1. "Big Impact Seen For Local Area In Superhighway". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. October 24, 1956. pp. 1–2.
  2. Fagan, Mark (October 22, 2009). "Thousands of vehicles to roll across new bridge today". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  3. "Kansas River Bridges update #65" (Press release). Kansas Turnpike Authority. November 28, 2010. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  4. "KTA Officials Say Traffic Heavy on Pike This Morning". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. October 20, 1956. p. 2.
  5. Lawhorn, Chad (August 3, 2007). "5 bridges in county 'deficient'". Lawrence Journal-World. pp. 1A, 5A. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  6. Fagan, Mark (November 16, 2009). "Bridge no match for explosives". Lawrence Journal-World. pp. 1A, 4A. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  7. "Another piece of turnpike bridge falls into Kansas River basin". Lawrence Journal-World. January 13, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
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