Contract awarded for Evansville side of Ohio River Crossing
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The Indiana Department of Transportation has awarded the contract for construction of the Indiana portion of the I-69 Ohio River Crossing (I-69 ORX) project.
The $1.4 billion project, when complete, will extend Interstate 69 and connect Evansville with Henderson, Kentucky via a new, four-lane bridge over the Ohio River.
The Indiana portion, known as Section 3, involves the construction of approach roadways and bridges in Evansville that will provide all-weather construction access to the Ohio River for work on the main bridge.
INDOT awarded the $202 million contract to ORX Constructors, a joint venture between Chicago-based Walsh Construction Co., which has regional offices in Indianapolis and Crown Point, and Evansville-based Traylor Bros Inc.
“It’s an exciting time for transportation in Indiana,” INDOT Commissioner Mike Smith said in a news release. “We’re eager for construction to get underway as we work toward the completion of this crucial connection to Kentucky and points beyond, officially finishing I-69 throughout the state.”
The I-69 ORX project is divided into three sections. Section 1, which began last year and is slated for completion in 2025, focuses on improvements in Henderson, extending I-69 in Henderson from U.S. 60 down to KY-425, with new and upgraded interchanges.
Construction on Section 3 in Indiana is slated to begin by the summer of 2024 and wrap up in 2026.
Section 2, which is being funded as a collaboration between Indiana and Kentucky, will complete the connection between the two cities with the four-lane bridge. Design work is expected to begin in 2025 with construction taking place between 2027 and 2031.
However, INDOT says both states are looking for opportunities to accelerate the timeline. One such avenue would be through a federal grant opportunity.
In August, the states applied for more than $632 million in federal funding. In an interview with IIB, I-69 ORX spokesperson Mindy Peterson said if the states receive the full allocation, construction on the bridge could begin two full years earlier, though it will still take the same amount of time to complete.
The states said if they receive the full grant amount, they will invest a combined $513.7 million from additional funding sources.