Ohio River reopened to boat traffic in Cincinnati following Brent Spence Bridge fire

The Ohio River reopened Saturday to navigational traffic around the Brent Spence Bridge following Wednesday's crash and fire, officials said.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Commonwealth of Kentucky halted barges and watercraft Friday night on the river in that area as a safety precaution until inspection results were in.

Engineers who inspected the bridge Friday sent steel samples to a metallurgical laboratory in Louisville for microscopic analysis to ensure the metal was not chemically compromised, according to a Saturday release. Once the results came back, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet recommended the Ohio River be reopened.

"We know that there's disruption. And we want to do our best to remedy that disruption as quickly as we can," Kentucky Transportation Cabinet secretary Jim Gray said Saturday. "But we ask your patience on these closures as we proceed."

A crash on the bridge Wednesday morning involved a truck hauling potassium hydroxide and an unknown amount of diesel fuel that crashed into a jackknifed truck at 2:45 a.m. on the northbound deck.