Matthew Bullock with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is looking out over the floodwater surrounding I-69 in Evansville, a barrier between him and passing highway traffic.
It stretches as far as the eye can see, and includes the swollen river itself and Eagle Creek.
“This is a future path of a bridge that'll be a big interchange,” he said, gesturing to areas of cleared trees. “So that's why you can see kind of where the bridge is going to go.”
It’s not easy to imagine an interchange with three feet of water covering what had been progress toward a construction surface for equipment.
There are three sections of the I-69 Ohio River Crossing project (I-69 ORX); this is Section 3.
I-69 ORX is a joint project between INDOT and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). The ORX includes a new four-lane river crossing between Evansville and Henderson, and 11.2 miles of new interstate, including 8.4 miles on new terrain and 2.8 miles of upgrades to US 41.
Section 3 includes approach roadways and bridges in Indiana and all-weather construction access to the river to build the new I-69 bridge, which is Section 2. Section 1 is bridge approach work in Henderson which started first.
Project spokesperson Mindy Peterson said they’ve prepared for such flooding.
“Section 3 remains on schedule, and that means that construction will be about 60-percent complete by the end of this year and complete by the end of next year,” she said.
Despite flooding, work should resume this week. Peterson said once the water level drops, there will be a lot of clean-up work.
“There will be the debris, there will be the trees to move, there will be some power washing to do, of things that are out there already,” she said, referring to cranes kept elevated out of the water. “When you have bridge work that is happening near water, you anticipate these types of things, and you plan for these types of things.”
Peterson said work should resume this week; water is dropping by two-feet per day.
Work is also well under way in Henderson and both projects will meet in the middle for the construction of a new I-69 bridge over the Ohio River.
Bridge construction should start in 2027, finishing by 2031. Peterson said this will have serious economic benefits.
All three phases are expected to cost about $1.2 billion.
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