The State Road 237 Bob Cummings Lincoln Trail bridge spans the Ohio River between Cannelton, Ind., and Hawesville, Ky. The bridge is located about one-third of a mile south of State Road 66 in Perry County, Ind., and Hancock County, Ky. State Road 237 is KY-69 in Kentucky. The project was completed in Spring 2018.
Project Information
Two back-to-back repair and maintenance projects are planned for this bridge beginning in 2015. One maintenance project will retrofit and repair the locations of fatigue-prone details and address other needed high-priority repairs. A subsequent painting project will clean and paint the steel bridge structure from abutment to abutment down to the bottom of the bearings.
Upon performing all due diligence in evaluating project alternatives, INDOT anticipates the bridge will remain open to traffic utilizing a single lane with signals strategically placed and actuated to accommodate traffic congestion issues on either end. During winter months, it is anticipated that the bridge will be returned to two lanes of traffic.
Public Involvement
INDOT will host the next community outreach event regarding construction activities on the bridge. Please join us on Thursday, March 31, 2016 at 6:00pm (local time) at the Cannelton Community Center Gym, Cannelton Jr./Sr. High School, 120 South 4th Street, Cannelton, Indiana. Please see the notice below:
Project Documents
Bridge History
Construction of the State Road 237 bridge began in June 1964, and the bridge opened Dec. 21, 1966. The two-lane, steel-arch bridge was a toll facility until the state of Indiana rescinded the tolls in the 1990s.
Former Indiana Gov. Matthew Welsh was a strong supporter of the construction of two bridges on the Ohio River as a means to reinvigorate the local economies in southwestern Indiana, and by extension, the state economy.
One of these bridges was to connect Cannelton in Perry County with Hawesville in Hancock County, Ky., and the other was to connect Mauckport in Harrison County, Ind., with Brandenburg in Meade County, Ky. In order to finance these projects, the governor introduced legislation allowing the Indiana State Toll Bridge Commission (ISTBC) to use existing toll bridges to pay interest and principal on bond issues for new bridges. The governor also imposed a 2-percent sales tax on cigarettes.
The same year, the ISTBC signed an “interstate agreement” with Kentucky officials and retained the St. Louis-based engineering firm of Sverdup and Parcel to design both bridges.
In November 1974, the Lincoln Trail Bridge was given a secondary designation in honor of Bob Cummings, who was the editor of the Cannelton News and a civic booster of Cannelton until his death in July 1971.
Project Assessment Map
Contact Information
Customer Service
Indiana Department of Transportation-Southwest District
3650 South U.S. Highway 41
Vincennes, IN 47591
Toll Free: (800) 279-5758