Glover Cary Bridge

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Glover Cary Bridge during the day

Glover Cary Bridge at night

The Glover H. Cary Bridge is a continuous truss bridge that spans the Ohio River between Owensboro, Kentucky and Spencer County, Indiana. It was named for the late U.S. Congressman Glover H. Cary (1885-1936), and opened to traffic in September 1940. It was originally a toll bridge, but tolls were discontinued in 1954.

The bridge was funded through a $1.03 million federal grant, part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program, and public fundraising efforts. At first, the bridge connected Kentucky Highway 75 to Indiana Highway 75; in 1954, Kentucky 75 was redesignated U.S. Highway 431 and Indiana 75 became U.S. Highway 231.

In the fall of 2002, when the William H. Natcher Bridge was completed, U.S. 231 was rerouted onto that bridge and the former U.S. highway became the southern leg of an extended State Road 161.

[edit] Trivia

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Local residents call the Cary Bridge the "Blue Bridge" because of its color. It was scheduled to be repainted in 2006 and a Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro's newspaper) sponsored vote was done to determine what color to paint the bridge. Not surprisingly, blue was the overwhelming winner. The repainting has not yet started and Owensboro residents have increasingly complained to the Messenger-Inquirer that the bridge is becoming an eyesore without the repainting.
The William H. Natcher Bridge was built upstream from Owensboro to supplement the Cary Bridge, but the older bridge remains a vital river crossing, serving many thousands of vehicles daily. This is primairly because the Cary bridge is much closer to Owensboro proper.
Following the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota in August 2007, Kentucky officials (including Governor Ernie Fletcher), sought to reassure motorists that Kentucky's bridges are safe. However, Indiana and Kentucky, the two states connected by the Cary Bridge, seem to disagree about the old blue bridge's condition. The bridge was inspected jointly by the two states' transportation agencies in November 2005, and, according to Indiana officials, is "structurally deficient," while Kentucky officials labeled the bridge "functionally obsolete."

[edit] Condition of the Blue Bridge

The passage of time has not been particularly kind to the Cary Bridge. The driving surface often develops significant potholes each winter as part of the freeze-thaw cycle. Some of these holes become as deep as the rebar beneath the driving surface.

Asphalt is regularly used to fill holes in the bridge's deck on a temporary basis, but it is often mid-to-late summer each year before "permanent" concrete patching takes place. It is not uncommon to find lost hubcaps on the bridge, and likewise there are often instances of damage to vehicles (i.e., bent wheels, blown tires, etc.) reported because of the rough condition of the surface.