COVINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) performed the controlled demolition of the 4th Street Bridge that once connected Covington and Newport Monday morning.
The bridge has been closed to traffic since mid-January, and crews have been working to prepare it for detonation since then.
KYTC established a "secure zone" around the bridge to ensure the demolition was safe. Many people gathered just outside that zone to watch the bridge's detonation.
WATCH: We were there as the bridge fell
District officials said people living within the secure zone can stay in their homes and should expect a loud bang and brief shaking, similar to a strong clap of thunder.
Construction on the replacement bridge is expected to begin in the spring, with completion slated for the summer of 2028.
Originally, officials said they intended to build the new bridge in two phases that would allow for pedestrian and cyclist access during construction. However, now that won't be the case; KYTC says the decision to demolish the bridge was made with safety in mind.
In 2023, KYTC revealed four different bridge designs in consideration for the 4th Street Bridge's replacement; the agency previously announced the approved design is a three-arch bridge that will span the Licking River.
The design of the new bridge features three steel arches that will reach 58 feet above the roadway; the bridge itself will span 446 feet cross the Licking River — nearly 200 feet longer than the span of the existing bridge, KYTC said.
The concept will carry two 12-foot wide shared-use paths separated from vehicle traffic for use by bicyclists and pedestrians.
KYTC says those shared-use paths will make the bridge an American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant structure.
Below the bridge deck, concrete piers will support the structure while framing the river itself.
The bridge itself will expand to carry four lanes of vehicle traffic, but KYTC officials said the number of lanes continuing to 4th Street into Covington will stay at two lanes. The bridge's shared-use paths will also connect with a dedicated bike lane already created on 4th Street.
The 4th Street Bridge, built in the 1930s, is considered by KYTC officials to be functionally obsolete. The KYTC has planned for the past nine years to redesign the bridge.
