Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge closes May 18 through summer 2027
The Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge will shut down May 18, forcing Adams County drivers onto the Harsha Bridge, US 52 and KY 8 until summer 2027.
Adams County commuters who cross the Ohio River into Maysville will lose one of the region’s key links on May 18, when the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge shuts down around the clock and stays closed through the summer of 2027. The closure will leave no through traffic on the US 62 span between Maysville, Kentucky, and Aberdeen, Ohio, pushing drivers to rebuild work routes, school trips, medical runs and business deliveries around a much longer detour.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has identified Structural Technologies LLC as the contractor for the $22,602,000 low-bid project. Drivers will be routed to the William H. Harsha Bridge, US 52 and KY 8 during the shutdown. The Harsha span sits about three miles west of Maysville and will carry much of the region’s cross-river traffic while the Simon Kenton bridge is out of service.
For residents in eastern Adams County, the impact will be immediate. The bridge is not just a river crossing for Mason County and Brown County traffic; it is part of the daily pattern for people who head toward Maysville for jobs, shopping, appointments and school-related travel. The closure is likely to mean added minutes, higher fuel costs and more congestion on the roads that remain open.
The shutdown also lands with a long history behind it. The Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge is a suspension bridge built in 1931 and opened to traffic on November 25, 1931. Designed by Modjeski and Masters, it has a main span of 1,060 feet and a total length of 1,991 feet. Kentucky’s historic-bridge listing describes it as an excellent example of early-1930s American structural engineering and Art Deco-era design.
This is not the first time the bridge has been taken out of service for serious work. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet closed it in November 2019 after inspectors found worsening corrosion damage to suspender cables. It also underwent inspection-related closures in spring 2025 and reopened on June 6, 2025. The new closure underscores how much one aging river span can shape travel patterns on both sides of the Ohio River for years at a time.
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