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Two more covered bridges closed for now
Two covered bridges in northern Putnam County were closed Wednesday morning as they await repairs.
Cornstalk Bridge (Bridge 29) in Franklin Township and Rolling Stone Bridge (Bridge 248) in Floyd Township are both closed until further notice.
Motorists are urged to find different routes.
Cornstalk Bridge is located on County Road 1350 North, 0.8 mile west of 50 West. Rolling Stone is on County Road 800 North 1.4 miles west of 500 East.
With the Putnam County Highway Department working with United Consulting to take an inventory of covered bridges and iron truss bridges this spring, these two are the latest in a string of closures (both temporary and long-term), lane restrictions and load limit reductions applied to bridges throughout the county.
“United Consulting and I met today (Monday) to prepare a plan of action to repair Cornstalk and Rolling Stone covered bridges,” County Engineer Jim Peck told the Banner Graphic. “The deterioration of the bridge structural beams and connection points were caused by water infiltration from the roof.”
Peck went on to note that the Putnam County Highway Department will be able to fabricate and install structural plates as a temporary measure until full restoration can be undertaken in the future, similar to repairs done on other covered bridges recently.
“The Highway Department had performed similar repairs on Edna Collings and Dunbar covered bridges but not to the extent as these structures,” Peck said. “Unfortunately the bridges will be closed on Wednesday for approximately a month. Once opened up to traffic, the bridges will have lower load limit from the reduced carrying capacity of the damaged structural beams.”
The bridge closures are required by the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Besides the temporary closures and repairs to Dunbar and Collings this spring, Oakalla Bridge in Madison Township was closed last fall, while Dick Huffman Bridge in Washington Township was closed in March, both of them in need of much more extensive repairs than the other covered bridges.
That list of six bridges either recently repaired or awaiting repair leaves just three of the county’s nine covered bridges that haven’t had critical issues recently. Of these three, only Pine Bluff Bridge in Jackson Township has not undergone full restoration in the last 10 years.
Baker’s Camp Bridge in Floyd Township was restored in 2015. Houck Covered Bridge in Washington Township was restored and bypassed in 2014, leaving it to carry only pedestrians since.
In light of the inspections and findings, United Consulting will be giving an update on critical findings during a special public meeting of the Putnam County Commissioners at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, May 22 at the courthouse. This update will be in advance of a final report on the bridge inspections.
All of this comes on the heels of the county learning in recent months it would not be getting federal funding for a rehab and bypass project on Dunbar Bridge nor for preservation projects on Bridge 109 and Bridge 112 on West Walnut Street Road in Madison Township.
In a much-needed piece of good news regarding local bridges, Peck told the commissioners on Monday that Bridge 276, a continual headache for more than a year, is nearing completion.
Peck said the newly-reconstructed bridge, which carries Saddle Club Road (400 West) over the CSX railroad in Madison Township, would be getting its asphalt deck this week with guardrails to follow.
The bridge was originally closed in March 2022 with an estimated reopening date in August of last year, has now been closed for 15 months due to dozens of delays, most of them originating from the railroad company itself.