"UPDATE From the News Edge: Officials with the U.S. Coast Guard have told the News Edge, in an exclusive interview, that the Delta Mariner was attempting to go under the recreational channel under the Eggner's Ferry Bridige, rather than the navigational channel, when it struck the bridge around 8:10pm Thursday night."
http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Co ... 92644.html
Eggner's Ferry Bridge Hit By Cargo Boat. Part Of Bridge Collapses Into Kentucky Lake
Transportation officials have confirmed that the US 68/KY 80 Eggners Ferry Bridge was hit by the cargo boat Delta Mariner around 8:10pm Thursday night, and a portion of the bridge collapsed into Kentucky Lake.
Trigg County rescue officials tell the News Edge that it was a center section of the bridge that collapsed. Transportation officials have confirmed that it was two spans of the bridge that collapsed. From the scene, the News Edge reported that the collapsed section was between 150-200 feet long.
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Engineers are evaluating the stability of the bridge structure. Police and emergency management on site have been asked to keep everyone off the bridge at this time.
Engineers are checking each span of the bridge to determine if there has been collateral damage from the initial impact. As they check each span and are assured it is safe for them to proceed up the bridge they will move to the next span and check it until they get to the span that has been hit.
The Kentucky State Police request that motorist who normally travel westbound on US 68 through the Land between the Lakes to please avoid LBL and KY 453 or The Trace as well as US 68. KSP request motorist to instead use the Interstate 24 corridor to the purchase parkway to access this area.
The Captain of the vessel reported that all 20 crew members were accounted for. The Captain told emergency officials that he believed that there were no vehicles on the bridge at the time of the accident.
However, Kentucky State Police told the News Edge at the scene there were four vehices on the bridge when the impact occurred, including an off duty Kentucky State Trooper. All vehicles were able to return to safety.
One of those four vehicles was driven by Trigg County resident Robert Parker, who was returning from Murray. Parker told the News Edge that he stopped just feet from plunging into Kentucky Lake:
Officials with the United States Coast Guard in Louisville say the boat was carrying empty rockets. There was no fuel or hazardous material contained in the rockets. The Coast Guard has closed Kentucky Lake to all barge traffic until the investigation is completed.
The Delta Mariner, a 312-foot long and 8,000 horsepower supply ship, transports space-bound hardware, including the common booster cores, for the Boeing Delta IV rocket program.
Designed to navigate shallow inland waterways as well as the open ocean, this versatile transport vessel hauls rocket components approximately 550 miles from the Boeing factory in Decatur, Alabama down the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway to Mobile Bay and into the Gulf of Mexico.
The ship either rounds the Florida peninsula en route to Cape Canaveral or transits the Panama Canal en route to the western range Delta IV launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The bridge had been scheduled to be restricted to one lane of traffic during the day Friday to allow work to be done on the warning lights. It's unknown how many lights were actually working when the impact occurred.
The two-lane bridge is at the western entrance to Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. It opened to traffic in 1932. Its elevation was raised in 1943 when the Tennessee River was impounded to create Kentucky Lake.
On average, the bridge carries approximately 2,800 vehicles across the lake per day. The Transportation Cabinet is in the process of replacing the bridge, along with the nearby bridge over Lake Barkley on the eastern side of Land Between the Lakes. Preconstruction work, including geotechnical drilling, began months ago.
With loss of the bridge, motorists will be advised to take alternate routes, such as Interstate 24 around the northern end of Land Between the Lakes.
http://www.wkdzradio.com/pages/9733134.php
