Take Us Down the River on South 11

Information from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, under the direction of Commissioner Jim Gray, shows a recently conducted scheduled structural inspection of the KY-11 Cumberland River Bridge on October 15, 2025, to maintain safety for the approximately 15,000 vehicles that cross it daily. This routine evaluation is a component of the state’s broader 2026 Recommended Highway Plan, a six-year, $9.5 billion framework aimed at revitalizing critical infrastructure across the commonwealth. Under this plan, roughly $600 million is allocated annually to address pavement and bridge repairs, ensuring that essential crossings like the one in Barbourville remain structurally sound and capable of supporting regional economic growth.
That was not always the case, especially in July 1964. While a loaded log truck, driven by Ernest Owens of Richland, made its way up onto the bridge traveling into town, an 80-foot span of the bridge collapsed, nearly plunging the truck, its driver and the load of logs tail first into the warm waters of the Cumberland. Workers from the State Highway Department were on the opposite end of the bridge doing some repairs when the accident occurred and were first on the scene to help Mr. Owens out of the nearly vertical truck. Ernest was extracted from the wreckage, visibly shaken, but without injury, but they couldn’t say the same for his logging truck.
Because of the bridge collapse, transportation out of Barbourville to all points south and vice versa were immediately halted. Detours through Artemus and Davis Bend, and other points south, were immediately utilized until construction could begin on a temporary fix.
The original bridge was built in 1890 after the State Legislature passed an act in 1888 authorizing Knox County to issue bonds for the construction of the bridge, to be used for horse, wagon and pedestrian travel. The cost of the construction in 1890 was $20,000. The bridge was constructed of steel and wood with a rock foundation. Adjusted for inflation, the 1890 bridge’s cost would equate to more than $800,000 today.
Within a week, a group of business and civic leaders, led by Knox County Judge Ed McDonald traveled to Frankfort to meet with State Highway Commissioner Henry Ward about the possibilities of a new bridge to span the Cumberland. Those who attended the meeting were Knox Schools Superintendent Jesse D. Lay, Court Clerk Clyde Williams, Doug Blair, Barry Bacon, A. T. Corey, James Pace, Herbert Tye, Earl Cole, W. B. Frazier, and Congressional candidate Frances Jones Mills.
Commissioner Ward told the group that a temporary span would replace the collapsed part of the bridge and the weight limit of 8 tons, which had been grossly abused over the years would be cut in half, from 8 to only 4 tons.
Both Knox and Barbourville Schools superintendents said that their buses would unload students at each end of the bridge, students would walk across the bridge in the pedestrian area, the bus would then cross the bridge, and the students would once again board the buses for the short trip to school in the morning, or the trip home in the afternoon.
Within two weeks, the temporary section of the bridge was attached to the remaining structure and the bridge was reopened. The temporary section, which Commissioner Ward referred to as a “Bailey Bridge” was a steel construction which was developed during World War II when it was necessary to lay down heavy duty bridges over streams in a minimum amount of time.
On December 8, 1966, nearly two and a half years after the bridge collapse, the Advocate reported that a construction contract was finally awarded for an all-concrete and steel structure to the T. C. Young Construction Company of Williamsburg who came in with the low bid of $467,638. In today’s dollars, adjusted for inflation, that amount would be $4,606,078.
The project was expected to take 18 months and would cross the river several feet below where the current bridge stood. The old bridge with its makeshift construction continued to be used while the new bridge was under construction. No coal or log trucks or loaded school buses were allowed as the weight limit stood firmly at 4 tons. It also became just a one lane bridge to ease further weight strain.
Each spring in Knox County brings excessive rain and March of 1967 was no exception. Just as construction was getting underway, heavy rains hit Knox County. When the Cumberland crested at 38.1 feet, it spelled disaster for the new bridge as excessive damage to the concrete forms and construction of the new bridge was caused by the water. One large form erected to hold concrete for the pillars of the new bridge was washed downstream.
The newly constructed Cumberland River Bridge on Highway 11 South in Barbourville opened for travel in April of 1968. For nearly four years, schoolchildren, from Barbourville’s city limits to the Whitley County border, had to take two daily hikes across the wooden girders of the old rickety bridge. Those afraid of heights, or scared of water, no doubt had to be coaxed across the bridge as the cool currents of the Cumberland sounded underneath you.
The new Cumberland River bridge, now 58 years old, stands high above the Cumberland, as a testament to the resilience of Knox County’s citizens. The old adage, “good things come to those who wait,” serves Knox Countians well as they waited for four years for a bridge that those of us who live, “down the river” now take for granted!