Cairo, Illinois - As a reminder, a contractor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is continuing to restrict traffic to one lane on the US 51 Ohio River Bridge between Wickliffe, KY, and Cairo, IL, this week.

The daytime lane restriction is to allow a detailed inspection of the bridge structure which is expected to continue through this week.

Motorists should be alert for equipment, flaggers, and inspection personnel on the bridge deck in close proximity to traffic flow.

Motorists should be prepared to encounter lane restrictions between about 8:00 a.m., CDT, and 5:00 p.m., each day.  There may be periods where the use of climbers to conduct the inspection may not require lane restrictions, or where lane restrictions are on a short section of the bridge.  Delays should be minimal.

Inspectors expect to be on the bridge during daylight hours anytime weather permits.

All Kentucky bridges get a detailed inspection every two years with long-span river and lake bridges getting an additional walk-through inspection annually.

The Wickliffe-Cairo Bridge carries US 51, US 60, and US 62 traffic across the Ohio River at US 51 Kentucky mile point 7.372.

Also known as The Cairo Bridge, the US 51/US 60/US 62 Ohio River Bridge carries approximately 5,500 vehicles across the Ohio River each day between Wickliffe, KY, and Cairo, IL.   About 35 percent of that traffic is trucks.  The bridge connects with the US 60/US 62 Mississippi River Bridge to Bird's Point, Missouri at the southern tip of Illinois.

The US 51 Ohio River Bridge was constructed by the Cairo Bridge Commission as a toll facility and opened to traffic on November 11, 1936.  Tolls were removed from the crossing on November 11, 1948, when the highway departments of Kentucky and Illinois took over maintenance of the structure.