History
In 1952 the "Second Street Bridge" was reaching peak traffic, and the K&I Bridge faring similarly. Arthur W. Grafton commissioned two studies in 1952 and 1953, with their results being a need for two bridges in Louisville; one crossing to Jeffersonville, Indiana, and the other to New Albany. Hoosiers as far as Scottsburg, Indiana (30 miles (48 km) away) were vastly against making any bridges toll, and many residents of Louisville were against toll bridges as well. When the Interstate Highway System was announced by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the solution became clear. The Federal government would finance 90% of both bridges, with Indiana paying 10% of the New Albany bridge, and Kentucky paying 10% of the Jeffersonville bridge.
The New Albany bridge was given to Hazelet & Erdal, of Louisville to design in 1956. Construction began in June 1959, and was completed in August 1962. It was built at a cost of $14.8 million. In December 1962 Indiana governor Matthew E. Welsh announced it would be named for the former United States Senator and Supreme Court justice Sherman Minton, who was a native of New Albany. The American Institute of Steel Construction in 1961 named it the most beautiful long-span bridge of the year.
On February 5, 2009, a fifteen container coal barge lost power and was pushed downstream by the current and struck the bridge's central pier. The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) closed the bridge for several hours while it was inspected for damage. When no damage was found, the bridge was reopened later the same day.
Read more about this topic: Sherman Minton Bridge
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized—the question involuntarily arises—to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“The history of his present majesty, is a history of unremitting injuries and usurpations ... all of which have in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“To history therefore I must refer for answer, in which it would be an unhappy passage indeed, which should shew by what fatal indulgence of subordinate views and passions, a contest for an atom had defeated well founded prospects of giving liberty to half the globe.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)