Brent Spence Bridge Corridor March 31, 2025 eNewsletter

The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor (BSBC) Project team assures local businesses and residents that support for the region's small businesses remains in force as the project continues to move forward.

“We know building this transformational project will truly be an all-hands-on-deck effort,” said Arik Quam, design-build team project manager for Walsh Kokosing. “Local firms will be critical to the successful delivery of this project, and they offer an inherent advantage in that they know how to work in the area and their people are already here. We want to facilitate and build relationships with all firms.”

While recent questions about the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program have risen in the community, the Ohio Department of Transportation remains committed to fully implementing its DBE program and expects all contractors to continue honoring their DBE-related contractual requirements. The White House Executive Order regarding Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) does not impact the DBE program.

The project team remains committed to creating meaningful opportunities for businesses of all sizes and supporting the economic landscape of the region. To that end, the project team will debut a four-week engagement series targeted to local businesses on Thursday, April 3. You can register and learn more about that series here. 

BRENT SPENCE BRIDGE CLIMBS TO No. 8 IN NATIONAL CONGESTION RANKINGS

America's Worst Traffic Bottlenecks Ranked in New Report

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released its 14th annual rankings of the most congested bottlenecks for trucks.

The Brent Spence Bridge jumped from No. 14 to No. 8, climbing a leaderboard nobody wants to top. Meanwhile, New Jersey's George Washington Bridge maintains its unwanted No. 1 position for the seventh consecutive year.

Key findings from ATRI’s latest bottleneck rankings:

• Average rush-hour truck speeds are just 34.2 mph nationwide (down 3% from last year).
• The top 10 bottlenecks crawl at an average of 29.7 mph.
• These trucks burn 6.4 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually.
• Result: Vehicles pump more than 65 million metric tons of additional carbon emissions into the atmosphere while stuck in traffic jams.

ATRI’s analysis, which utilized data from 2024, found traffic conditions have continued to deteriorate in recent years.

“These traffic bottlenecks not only choke our supply chains, adding $109 billion annually to the cost of transporting the everyday goods that Americans depend on, but they also impact the quality of life for all motorists who rely on the national highway system to commute to work, school, church, and other life events," said American Trucking Association’s President and CEO Chris Spear.

APRIL PROJECT ENGAGMENT SERIES

Interested in working on the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project? Learn more about how you can get involved through a series of informational sessions at Longworth Hall in April. For more information and to RSVP see below or click here.

TALKING TRUCKS

Whether it’s delivering materials and equipment to a construction site or hauling dirt and waste away for proper disposal, highway construction projects rely heavily on trucks to keep projects moving forward. And it will take a lot of trucks to support a project as large as the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project.

Organizing and coordinating logistics support for a megaproject like the BSBC is an enormous task. That’s why the Walsh Kokosing Design-Build Team has been in regular talks with area trucking companies and owner operators to communicate the project’s anticipated needs. 

This month, the WKDBT hosted more than 40 trucking industry representatives to discuss the project’s needs and answer questions about how to get involved. These early meetings are vital to the success of the project because they ensure that trucking companies and owner-operators can plan for the increased demand that the project will generate, which in turn helps minimize logistics-related delays.

Members of the Walsh Kokosing Design-Build Team address questions from trucking company representatives.

WALSH KOKOSING DESIGN-BUILD TEAM CELEBRATES WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION WEEK

The annual Women in Construction Week (WIC Week) celebrates and promotes the role of women in the construction industry. Nearly 1.3 million women worked in the field in 2024 – more than 10% of the total construction workforce. The BSBC Project is proud to have female leadership in both the bi-state management and the design-build teams.

In recognition of WIC Week 2025, held March 2-8, Walsh Kokosing hosted a series of events supporting the growing role women play in this dynamic sector. The week’s highlight was a presentation hosted in partnership with the Cincinnati chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), in which University of Cincinnati professor Dr. Georgia Anderson spoke about mental health in the workplace. 

APPROACH PIERS RISE: NOVEMBER 15, 1962

This month's throwback image captures a pivotal moment in the Brent Spence Bridge construction, showing Pier No. 4 and the approach piers on the Kentucky side.

Photographed by Brand Studios on November 15, 1962, this southeast-facing view documents the early stages of what would become a vital transportation link between Kentucky and Ohio.

As construction crews worked tirelessly on the bridge's foundation, Americans across the U.S. were tuning their radios to Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons' hit "Big Girls Don't Cry," (No. 1 on that day) while Elvis Presley's "Return to Sender" held steady at number two. These musical memories provide a cultural backdrop to the engineering achievements unfolding along the Ohio River.

Image courtesy of the City of Cincinnati, Division of Engineering

Stretching from the Western Hills Viaduct in Ohio to Dixie Highway in Kentucky, the estimated $3.6 billion project will be built without tolls and transform an eight-mile portion of the I-71/75 interstate corridor, including a companion bridge immediately to the west of the existing bridge. More information about the project is available at BrentSpenceBridgeCorridor.com.