Kentucky Educational Television will debut a documentary on construction of the two bridges over Kentucky and Barkley lakes on US 68 in Trigg County this weekend.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says produced by Emmy-award winning filmmaker Mark Crowner of Louisville, the documentary looks back at the start of the project in 2007 when a series of public meetings allowed about 600 area residents to participate in selection of a design for the new bridges.
The 30-minute documentary, which will premiere Sunday at 1 p.m. on KET’s main channel, explores the challenges of simultaneously replacing two 1930s-era bridges.
The U.S. 68 Eggners Ferry Bridge on Kentucky Lake opened to traffic in December 2015. The U.S. 68 Lake Barkley Bridge on Lake Barkley opened to traffic on February 12, 2018. The matching basket-handle arch design that came out of the extensive public participation process created a distinctive architectural and cultural statement at the eastern and western entrances of the Land Between the Lakes.
Each bridge has a multi-use trail for hike and bike traffic with a 9-mile-long trail connecting them through the Land Between The Lakes. When construction of a final four-lane section of U.S. 68 is completed in central Trigg County, the trail will extend eastward to Cadiz.