The money is allocated. Designs are in progress. And relatively soon, crews will begin work on the long-awaited $3.6-billion Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project.
But who will those crews be? And how many workers will be from places around the bridge, like Covington?
Cody Johnson has lived in Covington and other places around Northern Kentucky all his life. He and some of his fellow union members just finished up a four-year apprenticeship program with Local Ironworkers 44 based in Hebron.
He's fired up — there's a good chance the first major project he works on will be the years-long effort to build the Brent Spence companion bridge.
"For it to come around in our career — especially the start of our career? It's super exciting," he says. "And it's a project you can walk to."
That's a big deal, Johnson says, because a lot of times ironworkers end up driving long distances to work on shorter projects, meaning more time away from home to make ends meet and more uncertainty about where your next job is coming from.
There's something special about working on a landmark project in your own neighborhood, too, says Sean Julick of Covington. He also just finished his apprenticeship as an ironworker.
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"I feel like me, being at home, working on something so big, in my backyard, the pride that's going to be put into the work will be huge," he says. "Because it's my family driving across the bridge. It's my family that's going to benefit, as well as travelers and truck drivers, which is great for them. But we're probably going to take the most pride in it. Like, 'This is our bridge.' "
'It's such an opportunity'
Johnson and Julick won't be alone, of course. Officials estimate roughly 500 skilled construction workers will be needed to build the bridge and surrounding highway interchanges.
Add to that other major projects that will be happening at the same time — think: the mixed-use development at Covington's former IRS site; a new Fourth Street Bridge between Covington and Newport; the Western Hills Viaduct replacement; and work on Cincinnati's Convention District — and you get demand for a lot of workers.
The Walsh Kokosing design-build team is drawing up the plans and hiring the workforce.
Diversity and Inclusion Manager Margaret Yanosko says it will be vital to expand local entryways into trades work.
"We're definitely looking for new people to come into the industry," she says. "There are a number of trades union members in the area, but we don't project based on current construction activities and planned activities outside the Brent Spence Bridge and including Brent Spence Bridge, that there's enough workforce to support all that. So we definitely need to grow the workforce."
Walsh-Kokosing is working with local municipalities, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Ohio Department of Transportation to make sure that happens and that the project's workforce meets or exceeds federal diversity goals.
Officials say they are reaching out to trade unions and construction companies as well as local schools. They point to a yearly event put on by trade group Allied Construction Industries. It engages about 3,000 middle and high school students in 62 schools each year. Some of those students could end up working on the almost decade-long Brent Spence project someday.
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ODOT Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project Manager Tommy Arnold says it could start a number of future local careers.
"It's such an opportunity for someone to come onto the project as an apprentice, just starting out, and make their way all the way to journeyman. To have Brent Spence on their resume is just an awesome opportunity."
Covington's Dylan Porter is another ironworker who just attained journeyman status. (Journeyman is the designation one receives after completing an apprenticeship.) Like his fellow ironworkers, he hopes locals get first crack at jobs on the project.
"We pay the taxes in that city, in the state," he says. "We grew up here our whole lives. My uncle was an ironworker, his dad was an ironworker out of this hall. They worked on those bridges, the Big Mac bridge — all of them. If we didn't get this work, it would be very detrimental."
Officials are still taking public input on the project as Walsh-Kokosing works through the design process. Some work could begin as early as this year. Major construction will start in 2025.