In an effort to improve safety and drainage in certain areas, three rural bridges just outside of Hopkinsville are targets to be replaced with boxed culverts.
During Tuesday’s Christian County Fiscal Court, magistrates unanimously approved the authorization of Judge-Executive Steve Tribble to sign a memorandum of agreement and draft resolution for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s “Bridge Program” — which offers 80 percent cost relief to projects roughly 20 feet in size or less.
Those locations include a span on Hammack Road, another on Old Edwards Mill Road and a third on Shepherd Road near the original Sinking Fork Elementary School.
Tribble said the motion was standard procedure, but the authority to open bids for the projects cannot begin until the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet approves the assignments.
The Hammack Road stretch was built in 1992 and received good standing in its last bridge report, but will soon reach its 30th year of operation.
The Old Edwards Mill Road span is one of two built in the early 2000s, but received a fair grade in its last bridge report.
The Shepherd Road implement has a timber frame, was built in 2000 and leads to a dead end. Traffic, however, is relatively high at the location, and according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the bridge has recently had its tonnage limit lowered from 18 tons to 12 tons in the last 24 months — with some noted deterioration in its under-structure.