Dunbar Damaged

Friday, February 20, 2015

Photo by JARED JERNAGAN

A call to Putnam County 911 Dispatch Thursday afternoon alerted authorities to damage to the southeast end of Dunbar Covered Bridge in Greencastle Township. The call came in at 2:57 p.m., with Putnam County Sheriff's Department Lt. Donnie Pettit responding to investigate and a Putnam County Highway Department unit (pictured) later reporting to assess the damage. There is no major structural problem, with the impact only knocking loose a cross member support and several pieces of wooden siding. The 135-year-old bridge over Big Walnut Creek has been damaged several times in the last few years, with the culprits on at least two occasions being semi drivers whose GPS units led them on an unfortunate route through the Putnam County countryside. No word was available on the cause of the damage as of Thursday evening.

Comments

View 4 comments

Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

I am glad there was no extensive damage to the bridge.

-- Posted by donantonioelsabio on Thu, Feb 19, 2015, at 11:33 PM
Me too. Years ago I lived 4 houses up the road from the bridge and consequently I crossed the bridge at least 2 to 4 or more times a day for over 37 years. It hurts me when I hear it has been damaged for some reason... I hope they keep it on the restore list at least as long as I am on this earth!!!!!

-- Posted by waepc on Fri, Feb 20, 2015, at 9:42 AM
:( Yes, repair and restore if needed. These bridges are part of our county's history. They are beautiful, nostalgic pieces that make our county unique. I love seeing them and driving through them...never tire of them.

-- Posted by Lindy62 on Fri, Feb 20, 2015, at 10:14 AM
Again? We need to install a giant yellow steel bar at about 10' height on both approaches to this bridge.

-- Posted by Clovertucky on Sat, Feb 21, 2015, at 11:50 AM

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration:

If you already have an account, follow this link to login
Otherwise, follow this link to register