All lanes and sidewalks of the Second Street Bridge reopened to vehicle and pedestrian traffic early Monday morning, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Completion of the project means drivers will no longer have to worry about nightly bridge closures or partial lane closures during the day.

In early 2018, crews began to clean and repaint the structure, also known as the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge. Built in 1929, the bridge had some rusted steel.

Thus, the projected helped to preserve the steel and to extend the life of the bridge.

Background:What to know about the Second Street Bridge closure

“Adding a fresh coat of paint on the aging bridge is a vital maintenance effort to preserve the steel and extend the useful life of the highly-traveled bridge,” Matt Bullock, Department of Highways District 5 chief district engineer, said in a statement.

Spartan Contracting, a firm from Hubbard, Ohio, was awarded a $27.9 million contract in 2017 to lead the project. Though the painting was originally scheduled to be completed in November of this year, a combination of good weather and seasonal nightly bridge closures helped lead to an early completion, according to a press release.

The bridge was last completely painted in the 1980s. The Kentucky and Indiana approaches were cleaned and painted in 2010 and 2013, respectively.

Related:Second Street Bridge receives coat of yellow paint

Contact Ben Tobin at bjtobin@gannett.com and 502-582-4181 or follow on Twitter @TobinBen. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: subscribe.courier-journal.com.