The U.S. Coast Guard Louisville Operations Center reported a barge hit on the U.S. 68 Tennessee River/Kentucky Lake Eggners Ferry Bridge near Aurora during the overnight hours.
At 11:30 p.m., CDT, the Motor Vessel William Neckel was heading upstream when the pilot indicated windy conditions pushed a tow of six empty barges into the left descending main pier of the bridge. A wire securing some of the barges broke as a result of the incident. It was quickly replaced by the crew.
There was no damage to the barges and the pilot indicated the tow only scraped the pier.
The Coast Guard contacted the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to dispatch a certified bridge inspector to run a safety check on the bridge. The inspector confirmed there was no damage to the pier.
The US 68/KY 80 Eggners Ferry Bridge is at US 68 Marshall County mile point 28.146 and Trigg County mile point 0.0. The bridge serves as the western entrance to The Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area.
The bridge is at Tennessee River navigation mile point 41.7.
Approximately 3,600 vehicles cross the New US 68/KY 80 Eggners Ferry Bridge over Kentucky Lake at Aurora in an average day.
The basket handle arch bridge was first opened to 2-lane traffic in December 2015 with 4-lane traffic starting in December 2016. The design is a twin of the U.S. 68 Lake Barkley Bridge at Canton.
The bridge serves a river crossing that started with a ferry sometime in the 1830s. The first bridge constructed at the site opened to traffic in 1932.
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