FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 24, 2023) – Progress is being made on the I-65 Central Corridor rehab project with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet selecting Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. as the construction manager and general contractor.
The project will rehabilitate overpass bridges and pavement in the heavily traveled section of the highway from Watterson Expressway to I-64, near the Ohio River. That corridor directly services some of Kentucky’s largest employers in Louisville and the region: UPS, Muhammad Ali International Airport, Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center, the University of Louisville and the city’s downtown hospitals, among others.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to rehabilitate at least three bridges in the corridor at an expected cost of $100 million, which the Kentucky General Assembly appropriated.
In addition, Kentucky Transportation Secretary Jim Gray said the agency will apply for federal funding – a discretionary Bridge Investment Program grant created as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. With enough grant funding or future support from the legislature, the scope of the project could increase to include rehabilitation of 18 bridges, plus pavement repair, at an expected cost of $247 million.
Secretary Gray says the project team will be looking for ways to shorten the overall construction schedule. It also will be investigating techniques called ‘accelerated bridge construction’ to reduce lane closures. Gray says the team is committed to minimizing the disruption to downtown businesses, employers and commuters during construction.
Kiewit carried out a similar rehabilitation of I-40 in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The company’s proposal was evaluated by a technical review committee and was selected as the “apparent best value.”
