Livermore Bridge, Livermore, KY

The Livermore Bridge at Livermore, Kentucky between Owensboro and Bowling Green reportedly made it into the old "Ripley's Believe It or Not" newspaper comic strip not because of its long length or an unusual design, but because of its route.

According to a highway marker on the south end of the bridge on U.S. Highway 431, the Livermore Bridge is said to be the only bridge in the world that starts in one county, crosses two rivers and a different county, then ends up back in the county in which it started. 

Entering from the south side headed north at the beginning of the 1,644 foot long crossing, the bridge is in McLean County approaching the Green River on a deck truss bridge, then crosses that river on a 23.9 foot wide steel through truss, then on the steel stringer portion of the bridge, the bridge continues across a strip of land that's in neighboring Ohio County, then re-enters McLean County when it crosses the Rough River, ending in the town of Livermore. The county line boundaries are within the rivers. About 1,124 feet of the bridge is in both ends of McLean County, and about 520 feet of the still-elevated bridge lies in an extended corner of Ohio, thanks to the junction of the Green and the Rough Rivers.

The steel truss portion of the bridge over the Green River is a Warren (Camelback) with verticals through truss, 320 feet long with a 17.7 foot vertical clearance from road deck to beams.

The Livermore Bridge was built in 1939 by the Bethlehem Steel Company, the U.S. Public Works Administration and the Kentucky State Highway Department for $314,000. It replaced a ferry that operated on the site for years. Today, just over 6,000 vehicles use the bridge every day.

The Livermore Bridge is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.