Fiery crash closes bridge linking Ohio, Ky. ‘for days’

Extreme heat made it too hot for inspectors to check out structure.

A fiery crash on a bridge linking Ohio and Kentucky could force the span to remain closed for days as intense heat from the blaze delayed inspections of the bridge that serves as a crucial link for interstate commerce, Kentucky’s governor said Wednesday.

The fire was fueled by a hazardous material spill on the Brent Spence Bridge.

“The bridge, at best, will be closed several days,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a virtual briefing.

“But we ought to be prepared for more disruption, potentially significantly more disruption, than that.”

The fire was contained, but the extreme heat made the bridge too hot for bridge inspectors,

Beshear said. Damage to the bridge and its concrete decking was visible, he said.

The governor warned that a closure lasting several days could be “optimistic.”

“We won’t have the details until those inspectors are there, but this is a serious accident and it is not outside the realm of possibility that we are looking at weeks,” Beshear said.

The crash occurred around 2:45 a.m. Wednesday. The governor said the crash appeared to be caused when a northbound truck jackknifed on the bridge and was struck by another truck hauling potassium hydroxide. No injuries were reported.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, potassium hydroxide is used in the production of some soaps, batteries and paint removers and can be corrosive in moist air to some metals like aluminum, zinc and tin. The chemical fire did not pose a danger to the public, Lt. Col. Brian Valenti said, though a shelter-inplace was issued for a brief period after the crash.

The closure of the bridge caused detours for motorists, and Beshear asked for patience during the inspection and repairs. Kentucky and Ohio officials said they’re committed to getting the bridge repaired and reopened as quickly as possible.

Kentucky transportation officials say the bridge carries about 160,000 vehicles a day.

“The Brent Spence Bridge is a vital component of our national highway system,” said Jack Marchbanks, director of the Ohio Department of Transportation. “A closure of any length will have a huge impact on the people who live and work in this region.”

Ohio and Kentucky officials are working with federal transportation officials “to keep people and goods moving,” Marchbanks said.

Officials stressed that safety will be paramount when doing the inspection and repairs.

“We’re going to make sure it’s safe for our personnel to go on to inspect,” Beshear said. “But then ... when we reopen it, it’s going to be at a time when I would drive my family across it, so that our citizens can have confidence that it’s safe.

The fire burned so hot it melted the semitrailers into bits and pieces. Wayne Smith, owner of Smith’s Towing, estimated crews wouldn’t have the wreckage clear until at least 4 p.m.

“It’s all going to be taken out in trailers. Nothing rolls. It’s one of the — it is the worst melt down of a tractor trailer I’ve ever seen in my 30-year career. It’s just a mess,” Smith said.

Jim Gray, secretary of Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, said crews are committed to doing everything they can to restore the traffic and supply chain that is made possible by the Brent Spence.

The Brent Spence Bridge, opened in 1963, has been listed as “functionally obsolete” on the federal bridge registry since the 1990s. That’s because it now carries more vehicles than it was originally designed to carry.

According to the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OKI) Regional Council of Governments, the Brent Spence — designed to carry 80,000 vehicles per day — now carries between 150,000 and 200,000 every day. In 1986, the emergency shoulders were converted to travel lanes to accommodate the increasing traffic.

A major freight and trade corridor, the bridge was estimated to carry more than 3% of the national gross domestic product as of 2018. The Ohio River — the continental United States’ second-biggest river and another major conveyor of freight traffic — is also closed to water traffic in the vicinity of the bridge. The bridge is the seventh-busiest freight junction in the nation, according to OKI CEO Mark Policinski.