Bridge work OK'd

AUBREY WOODS
awoods@tribtown.com

BROWNSTOWN — Work should start this spring on rehabilitating the nation’s longest covered bridge.
That’s a result of the awarding of a nearly $1 million contract Jan. 27 by the Indiana Department of Transportation to CLR Construction and Transportation Inc., Vincennes, for repairs to the Medora Covered Bridge.
County highway superintendent Warren Martin told Jackson County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that CLR submitted a bid of $989,403.65, by far the lowest submitted for the federal project that will be funded with so-called stimulus money.
Other bids ranged from $1.4 million to $1.6 million.

See BRIDGE, Page 2A

Martin said the Medora Covered Bridge project had an estimated price tag of $1.75 million.
The bridge — one of only two covered bridges still standing in Jackson County — was built in 1875 by Joseph J. Daniels and bypassed in 1972 by a concrete bridge on Indiana 235 between Medora and Vallonia. The bridge spans 458 feet if the 12-foot overhangs on each end are counted.
Martin said six companies submitted bids for the project, which includes replacement of a temporary metal roof with wood shake shingles.
The work also includes new signage and approaches to the bridge, a three-span Burr Arch Truss. The approaches will allow easier access for pedestrians and bicyclists.
In other matters
Martin also reported that Strand & Associates Inc., Columbus, has started design work for a federally funded project to replace the Rockford Bridge over the East Fork of the White River north of Seymour.
The project to replace the present bridge has a $4 million price tag.
Martin also said a project to replace the Cavanaugh Bridge has been submitted to INDOT for possible inclusion in a list of future projects.
The bridge, which carries County Road 550W in Driftwood Township over the Muscatatuck River into Washington County, has been closed since 2006.
It was used by farmers with fields in both Jackson and Washington counties and by other area residents.
Commissioner Jerry Hounshel said he continues to receive calls from residents of that area asking for information about the future of the bridge.

About the bids
CLR Construction and Transportation Inc., Vincennes, submitted a bid of $989,403.65.
Other companies and their bids were Force Construction, Columbus, $1,443,296.82
American Contracting & Services, Jeffersonville, $1,489,940.55
HIS Constructors LLC, Indianapolis, $1,549,900
Mac Construction & Excavating, New Albany, $1,588,120.98
And Righter Company Inc., Columbus, Ohio, $1,697,202.30