Five bridges in the Barren River area are scheduled to be replaced or repaired by October 2020.

Joe Plunk, chief district engineer for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s District 3 office, said the cabinet recently signed a $1.97 million contract with contractor Scott & Murphy that calls for replacing a bridge on Hammett Hill Road in Warren County, as well as repairing two bridges in Allen County and replacing two in Todd County as a part of a state-level program called Bridging Kentucky.

“This was, under the leadership of Gov. (Matt) Bevin, a program designed to repair or rehabilitate up to 1,000 bridges over six years,” he said.

Plunk said the Bridging Kentucky program prioritizes maintenance needs that are often unaddressed.

“We tend to focus on needs of expansion … but what’s often overlooked is maintaining what we already have,” he said.

In Warren County, Scott & Murphy is slated to replace the bridge on Hammett Hill Road that crosses Salt Lick Creek.

“It’s a pull and replace,” he said. “We’re taking that old bridge out and putting a new bridge in.”

In Allen County, a bridge on Ky. 585 over Middle Fork Drakes Creek and one on Ky. 3499 crossing Bays Fork are slated for “superstructure rehab,” which Plunk defined as “basically just a new deck.”

Allen County Judge-Executive Dennis Harper said he does not believe the bridges pose any danger at the moment, but that they could deteriorate to the point of being unsafe if nothing is done.

“We don’t have enough money in (the county road department fund) to do something about those,” he said. “We appreciate the state helping us out on this.”

Harper said both bridges will have to be closed while they’re being repaired, but he isn’t yet sure about a time frame.

Plunk said the contract with Scott & Murphy allows the contractor to repair or replace the five bridges on its own timetable as long as the work is done by Oct. 12, 2020. Plunk doesn’t know when the contractor plans to shut down the bridge on Hammett Hill Road, but once that happens, he expects it to be closed for about 45 days.

Plunk said the contract also calls for replacing two bridges in Todd County, one on Rattlesnake Road, going over Buck Fork and one on Roger Q Mill Road crossing Red River W Fork Branch.