The 68-80 bridge crossing over Kentucky Lake by Kenlake Marina collapsed today. Apparently a bardge hit it. I haven't gotten to see it yet, but I'm ready to ride out on the boat here soon and see the damage.
I don't have a camera here at school so my phone will be the best pictures, but will do. It is good in a way because that bridge along with the one over Barkely are pretty damn scary. I've crossed over them with my boat passing a tractor trailer and I honestly thought I was going to hit the tractor trailer or scrape the boat down the guard rail.
Not the best pic, but you can see the missing section: Kentucky bridge hit by cargo ship, collapses I cross that thing a couple of dozen times a year. Volfreak is correct--both it and it's sister on Barkley are rattletraps. They repaired them some time in the '90s, but they are still narrow, rusted, and outdated. The boat obviously missed the channel.
Actually the boat was in the channel, but you have to remember how wide the Tennessee River is through there. Had he went through one of the other two sections to his right he'd have made it
I've crossed that bridge a couple of times in a big truck (tractor, 53' trailer that's also 102" wide), it's not for the faint of heart. the old iron bridge over Nickajack Lake near Jasper, TN is similarly narrow.
Never been across that bridge that I know of. But, if it's anything like the old Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, SC, I'm glad. That old bridge in Charleston terrified me beyond description.
the Arthur Ravenel Bridge (that replaced the Cooper River Bridge) is an incredible site. There are pictures taken during it's construction with the old bridges still intact, it's a massive bridge.
The Skyway Bridge leading from St Pete Florida to Bradenton is quite a site to see. Going straight up 200 feet is pretty scary the first time. It was such a popular place for jumpers they put a suicide phone up at the top. This bridge was built in the early 80's after a barge hit the original knocking a Greyhound bus into the ocean killing dozens. That's why they made the main bridge at such a lofty height. Some of the original bridge is still intact and used as a fishing pier.
Pictures from the wreck taken by an eye doctor who runs a local news, politics, and gossib website: Kentucky Bridge Disaster
