East End tunnel blasting to resume in late Feb.

Blasting for the twin-tunnel under the Drumanard estate and related nearby construction for the Ohio River Bridges Project is expected to resume in late February and project officials maintain the construction schedule has not been delayed.

"The tunnel portion of the overall East End Crossing project was actually running several months ahead of schedule, so the crew decided to take its time and err on the side of caution," said Dan Hartlage, a spokesman for for WVB East End Partners, whose construction arm for the Ohio River Bridges Project is Walsh Vinci Construction.

During a blast in September, more rock and dirt fell from the southbound tunnel ceiling than expected. Workers have spent the last several months thoroughly reinforcing the tunnel roof, including: creating and installing a series of steel arches throughout the tunnel; lining much of the ceiling and walls with fiber-reinforced concrete for further reinforcement; and installing rock anchors in the arches for additional reinforcement.

"Once they get going again, they'll be on schedule," Hartlage said.

After the reinforcements are complete, the inside of the tunnel will essentially be a steel and concrete shell, he added.

Blasting and excavation inside both sides of the tunnel are planned to continue into this summer. The twin-tunnel is still scheduled to be completed near the end of the overall project in late October 2016, Hartlage said.

Once complete, the tunnel will span 1,700 feet beneath the historic estate in Prospect, from the intersection of Ky. 841 and U.S. 42 to an area just south of Harrod's Creek.

Earth-monitoring devices were installed at the beginning of the project to constantly check for any associated movement inside the tunnel, on top of it and along U.S. 42.

Hartlage said no ground movement has been detected at any time by these devices. Geologists also are on site when tunnel work occurs to review and monitor the reinforcement process.

Surface blasting for the project recently started again near U.S. 42 and Ky. 841, and blasting near Wolf Pen Branch Road is expected to start again in the next couple weeks.

Blasting also continue in Southern Indiana between Port Road and Upper River Road.

The estimated cost for the Kentucky approach to the new bridge, including the tunnels, is $338 million of the $2.3 billion overall project.

Both towers for the East End bridge have begun emerging from the river in recent months. Each now stands about 60-feet tall, though they're expected to reach their full 300-foot height by the end of this year.

Reporter Charlie White can be reached at (812) 949-4026 or on Twitter @c_write.