I-64 over Ohio River Bridge (Sherman Minton Bridge)

Summary

Kaskaskia Engineering Group, LLC (KEG) provided assistance with the environmental document and overall environmental services for Michael Baker Inc. (MBI) in support of twelve individual projects, including work on the five structures that constitute the Sherman Minton Bridge crossing over the Ohio River, located in New Albany, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky. The project was a joint effort between the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), with INDOT leading the project. The project included bridge deck replacements and overlays, structural repairs, lighting, drainage, and bridge painting. In addition to the five previously mentioned bridges, the project considered three additional bridge deck overlay projects, as well as three surface street work projects in Indiana.

Project

KEG’s scope of work included assisting with the completion of an approved environmental document, which included an approved Waters of the US (WOUS) Report and providing analysis of potential Environmental Justice (EJ) communities.

In support of the completion of the WOUS, KEG’s tasks included field reconnaissance for jurisdictional determination of wetlands and other water resources within the project area; coordination with the appropriate Federal, State, and local resource agencies; using the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC) website to conduct a regulatory review of the project area to evaluate potential impacts on threatened and endangered bat species; and participation in preliminary permit discussions. The WOUS resulted in the determination of the following jurisdictional water resources within the investigated area: five (5) perennial streams (4,335 LF), five (5) intermittent streams (2,671 LF), six (6) PFO wetlands (5.03 acre), five (5) PEM wetlands (2.06 acre), two (2) PSS wetlands (0.42 acre), one (1) open water feature (PUB) (0.2 acres), and one (1) Section 10 water (Ohio River). The WOUS was successfully approved by INDOT-Ecology and Waterway Permitting Office (EWPO) on September 16, 2019.

As part of the EJ analysis, KEG’s tasks included providing an analysis of the impacts of maintenance of traffic, including lane restrictions and full closures of the bridges, on EJ communities; assisting with the development of the Community Impact Assessment (CIA), and EJ Analysis Technical Report to document all socio-economic and community-related impacts and mitigation, and participating in EJ stakeholder meetings. The KEG staff also provided a quality assurance review of the draft CIA and EJ Analysis report prior to submission to INDOT and KYTC. The CIA and EJ Reports were submitted to INDOT for review and acceptance in April 2020, prior to the submittal of the CE4.

KEG staff also assisted with the preparation and quality assurance review of the Level 4 Categorical Exclusion (CE4). KEG’s tasks included preparation of the wetlands and water resources sections of the CE4 and performance of a QA/QC review of the entire document, prior to submittal of the CE4 to INDOT. The CE4 was issued by INDOT, KYTC, and FHWA for public and agency review in June 2020.

Lastly, in preparation for the Design/Build/Best Value (D/B/BV) bid of the entire project, KEG staff are assisting with evaluation of waterway permit applications of the D/B/BV contractor, prior to submittal of the applications to the appropriate resource agencies.