Jackson County Commissioners plan to invite Hamilton County officials to a meeting to discuss the future of the historic Bell Ford Covered Bridge.

Hamilton County officials have expressed interest in taking the remains of the bridge — which have been in storage since 2006 — and restoring them in Hamilton County.

Jackson County Highway Superintendent Jerry Ault made a request for that meeting during the commissioners meeting Tuesday morning.

Ault said he has been in contact with Hamilton County officials about the bridge, which once spanned the East Fork White River between Seymour and Cortland.

A storm packed with strong winds sent the western span of the bridge into river Feb. 27, 1999. The eastern span of the bridge fell into the river Jan. 2, 2006, shortly after it had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 332-foot bridge was built in 1869 by Robert Pattison during a transition period from wood to steel bridges. It was made of a post truss design with two king posts and metal truss rods. The bridge, which had no vertical trusses, was used by vehicles until 1970 when a concrete bridge was built just to the south.

Ault said Allen Patterson, Hamilton County’s parks director, told him that county would keep the Bell Ford Bridge name and plan to attach a plaque on the bridge to share its Jackson County history if it is restored.

The Jackson County Commissioners also would be invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The project would be a partnership between the two counties, but Hamilton County would assume all of the costs.

“It’s not like they would show up, take our bridge and go, but they would include us in every aspect of the bridge,” Ault said. “They have the funding and want to put the bridge back together.”

Bloomington engineer Jim Barker has stored the iron shoes and some bracing at a location in Greene County since it was pulled from the river. Some of the wooden portions of the bridge have been stored in the Seymour area.

Ault said Hamilton County officials have said they would pay storage fees to Barker, who specializes in covered bridges, iron truss structures and arch bridges of stone or concrete construction.

Several efforts over the years to restore the bridge in Jackson County, perhaps even move part of it to the Jackson County Fairgrounds, have come up short. Officials with the city of Lawrence in Marion County also once discussed the idea of erecting the bridge in one of its parks.