COVINGTON, Ky. — Construction on a new pedestrian bridge in downtown Covington will mean traffic and parking headaches Tuesday, city officials said.

Three 117-foot-long semi-trailers will deliver three 96,000-pound concrete beams Tuesday morning as part of what will become a new mixed-use bridge that will span the CSX railroad tracks at 11th Street between Madison Avenue and Russell Street.

In a news release, a city spokesperson said the trucks will arrive from Lexington around 10:30 a.m., although potential gridlock along Interstate 71/75 could delay that arrival. The trucks will exit the freeway at 12th Street before maneuvering along Pike, Seventh, Scott, West 10th and North Washington streets before a crane unloads them.

Drivers should expect restricted parking along those streets, the release indicated.

The new 12-feet-wide bridge will replace a retired span that crews demolished earlier this year. It will accommodate all types of non-vehicular traffic, including walkers, runners and bicyclists.

WASHINGTON —

A pedestrian bridge collapsed over a highway in the nation's capital on Wednesday, sending five people to the hospital. Traffic was expected to be snarled for hours.

The collapse happened just before noon along Interstate 295 in Northeast Washington. The bridge was found to be in poor condition at an inspection just a few months earlier.

Investigators believe a truck struck the bridge, causing it to come loose and collapse, said Chris Geldart, the deputy mayor for public safety and justice. Several other vehicles were also involved in the collapse. He cautioned that the investigation was still in its preliminary stages.

The five people taken to the hospital had non-life-threatening injuries, Geldart said.

Chunks of concrete and other debris were strewn across the highway, and both directions of traffic were expected to be closed at least until late Friday. The bridge was lying atop the truck, which was leaking diesel fuel along the roadway, officials said.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday afternoon that there were no recent reports of structural concerns about the bridge. But Geldart said in a statement later Wednesday that the mayor's statement was incorrect.

He said that the bridge was inspected in February and that a subsequent report issued May 25 rated the bridge as being in poor condition. He said the rating — a 4 on a scale of 9 to 0 — marked a threshold prompting a multiyear planning process to replace the bridge. The bridge had previously been rated a 5 — in fair condition — in April 2019.

The Metropolitan Police Department is leading the crash investigation, Geldart said.