PUBLIC INTEREST HEIGHTENED BY SUBSURFACE DRILLING ACTIVITIES SET FOR KENTUCKY EAST END APPROACH
More than 200 area residents came to Springdale Community Church.
June 2007 -- If attendance at the June 5 open house is any indication, public interest in the impending exploratory tunnel and access ramp work at U.S. 42 and KY 841 has reached a high point. More than 200 area residents came to Springdale Community Church to view exhibits, watch a brief power point presentation and question project engineers and officials on issues ranging from work schedules to traffic flow.
Engineers from Community Transportation Solutions, the general engineering consultant coordinating work on the Bridges Project, and H.W. Lochner, Inc., which manages design of the Kentucky East End Approach, joined with Bridges Project officials to explain the work involved and discuss timelines for the exploratory bore below U.S. 42. The excavation will provide engineers with geotechnical information necessary for design of the twin-tunnel bores that will eventually carry six lanes of traffic to and from the East End Bridge in Kentucky.
The exploratory work will be let to construction on June 22, 2007, and take approximately 20 months to complete. Work should begin in late July or early August. The bore will begin along the old KY 841 exit ramp and extend below U.S. 42 and the historic Drumanard Estate. The access ramp will descend approximately 65 feet below ground to the tunnel portal. A 12-foot-by-12-foot tunnel approximately 1,800 feet in length will be excavated below ground but will not daylight on the north side of U.S. 42. Engineers expect that work crews will advance about 10 feet a day, with smaller lateral geotechnical borings taken at intervals to gather additional geotechnical information as possible.
Information about the shale and limestone formations, including the possibility of karst features along the tunnel route, is important to design engineers. Karst formations result from mildly acidic water acting on soluble bedrocks, such as limestone. Sinkholes and cave systems are common karst features in Kentucky. Project engineers said that knowing what to expect should help lower costs and help crews maintain work schedules for the ultimate tunnel construction.
Working hour restrictions will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, unless written authorization is given to extend the work hours. All construction staging is required to remain within the existing freeway right-of-way. Construction vehicles are restricted from using Bridgepointe Boulevard and Marina Drive.