Owensboro Blue Bridge Reopening Delayed Until January 2026

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has announced a new projected opening date for the Glover Cary "Blue" Bridge on U.S. 231. The construction, which began this summer, was originally scheduled to be completed earlier this month. However, issues with steel fabrication and delays on certain materials have caused a setback.

"The contractor repairing the Glover Cary Bridge (U.S. 231) in Owensboro has notified the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet that it will be January before enough work is complete to safely reopen the structure to traffic," officials said in a release.

Workers with American Contracting & Services are still making progress to replace a 750-foot section of the bridge and to make other repairs. Although we haven't seen a ton of action on the Kentucky side of the bridge, the majority of the work so far has been on the Indiana side.

"Transportation Cabinet engineers will continue working closely with the contractor to explore potential solutions that could accelerate progress and bring the bridge back into service as soon as possible. The cabinet will provide updates as work progresses and new schedule information becomes available."

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The release went on to explain penalties for the contracting company in relation to the delay, "Liquidated Damages of $15,000 per day (including weekends) are being applied for failure to reopen the bridge by the contractually agreed upon October 1st deadline, and will continue until the bridge is reopened to traffic. Failure to complete the project by the November 15th completion date will start an additional $4,000 per day in liquidated damages until the project is fully completed."

If all goes as planned, the new reopening date will be January 16th. Until then, the approximately 7,200 vehicles that use the Glover Cary Bridge daily will need to continue to use their alternative routes. Not great news, but these repairs are extremely important to ensure we have a safe and reliable structure for the future.

For more information, visit the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, District 2 Facebook page.

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Filed Under: blue bridge, Facebook, Glover H. Cary Bridge

Categories: KENTUCKY TRAVEL, Owensboro – Daviess County News, Tri-State Travel, What's New