Editorial

It's our heritage, let's take care of it

Tuesday, October 21, 2014
With timber approaches and a new, rustic looking bypass bridge just to the north, Houck Covered Bridge is just the sort of structure Putnam County residents should take pride in maintaining.

Although it's been open to traffic for more than three months, the official grand opening of the new Putnam County Bridge No. 625 took place on Tuesday morning.

A beautiful site in the gently rolling terrain of northeastern Washington Township, the new bridge carries County Road 550 South, bypassing Houck Covered Bridge, which still stands, dignified, overlooking Big Walnut Creek a few feet to the south.

Replacing bridges is nothing new in Putnam County. With Big Walnut Creek, Big (and Little) Raccoon Creek, Clear Creek, Deer Creek and multiple others running through the county, the Putnam County Highway Department cares for 222 bridges across the 13 townships. All those bridges are bound to break down eventually.

But replacing a covered bridge is something different entirely. The historic structures span centuries as much as bodies of water, so residents want them maintained.

What to do with these masterpieces as they age?

Tearing them down is out of the question, and rightly so.

Continuing to let traffic cross them is a good option (and one that remains in effect for eight of nine local covered bridges). It also becomes more troubling as farms move from grain trucks to semis and as oversized, out-of-town delivery trucks attempt ill-fated crossings of our historic bridges.

Against this backdrop, Putnam County officials, partnering with USI Consultants and George R. Harvey & Son construction, undertook a different approach at Houck Bridge.

While the plan was to bypass the 134-year-old structure, it was to do so while not marring the historic look of the area with a ho-hum concrete-and-steel bridge.

Instead, Putnam County residents and visitors still have the newly-rehabilitated Houck Covered Bridge, standing since 1880, to enjoy as a pedestrian bridge. A short distance to the north, the county road now passes by on a modern bridge, but one that utilizes timber guardrails on the bridge and its approach, blending in nicely with the pastoral setting.

Even if it was a bit cloudly and chilly, the new and old bridges next to each other made for a lovely setting Tuesday morning, as Putnam County's past blended nicely with modern technology.

Add to this the history preservation site now surrounding the bridges, and the county has a nice, new park, a feather in the cap of Putnam County.

County leaders have done their part, but it's on all of us as residents to maintain Houck and all of our historic bridges.

Take care when crossing them. Don't go too fast. Be aware of traffic. If you're driving a large vehicle, please make sure it fits.

If you see suspicious activity going on around one of the bridges, don't keep it to yourself. Say something to the suspicious characters or at least report what you see to the proper authorities.

Beyond the limited harm of graffiti or minor vandalism, heaven forbid that one of our bridges go up in flames like the old Bridgeton covered bridge back in 2005.

And finally, if you feel the need to damage one of these beautiful links to our past, take a long look in the mirror and try to figure out what's wrong with you.

We have nine beautiful covered bridges in our midst, Putnam County. Each one has seen more history than most of us can hope to. Let's make sure they remain a source of pride for a long time to come.