A contract to replace the current Henry Lawrence Memorial Bridge that crosses Lake Barkley was awarded Feb. 11 to PCL Civil Construction.

The Denver-based company won the bid for the $128.3 million project from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet along with an October 2017 deadline.

The new four-lane bridge will bring U.S. 68/KY 80 over Lake Barkley and will also function as an eastern entrance to Land Between the Lakes.

Gov. Steve Beshear said the new bridge, accompanied by the other bridges either currently under construction or in line to be constructed, are a key in the western Kentucky tourism industry.

“Replacement of the bridges over Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley has been a priority of my administration, and it’s a great pleasure to see the awarding of the culminating contract,” Beshear said.

Similar in construction to the Eggner’s Ferry Bridge crossing Kentucky Lake, the current two-lane bridge, built in 1932, no longer meets current building standards – the two lanes are ten feet across each, with no shoulders.

The new bridge will be composed of four 11-foot-wide lanes and two four-foot shoulders. The new bridge will feature an additional 10-foot path for pedestrians and cyclists.

This bridge is one of several which make up the ongoing Lake Bridges Project.

Once the project is completed, there will be a non-stop four-lane road running from Aurora, Ky., to Cadiz, Ky., crossing through Land Between the Lakes, over Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.

The first part of the project, awarded to Jim Smith Contracting of Grand Rivers, Ky., is to build causeways and a new bridge over a western portion of Kentucky Lake near Kenlake State Resort Park campground.

This new bridge will connect drivers to the new main bridge – already under construction – over Kentucky Lake, a project awarded to Texas-based Johnson Brothers Corp.

Story by Amanda Grau, News Editor