Cedar Ford Covered Bridge 14-73-01x
Photo
Taken when bridge was located at Shelby County Fairgrounds
Photo taken by Anthony Dillon
BH Photo #136238
Facts
- Overview
- Burr Arch truss bridge originally over Big Blue River
- Location
- Shelby County, Indiana
- Status
- Replaced by new bridge in 1975, moved to the county fairgrounds where it remained until being dismantled. Now the parts are being used to build a new bridge in Monroe County.
- History
- Built in 1885 by the Kennedy Bros., moved to fairgrounds in 1970's, now dismantled.
- Builder
- - Kennedy Brothers
- Design
- Burr arch-truss
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +39.53582, -85.74372 (decimal degrees)
39°32'09" N, 85°44'37" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/607960/4376993 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Rays Crossing
- Inventory numbers
- WGCB 14-73-01x (World Guide to Covered Bridges number)
BH 41940 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- February 18, 2010: Updated by Anthony Dillon: Added coordinates of the original location for this bridge.
- March 30, 2009: Added by Anthony Dillon
Sources
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
Comments
This appeared in the Bloomington Herald-Times:
Thursday, January 4, 2018 - The Herald-Times
Covered Bridge construction to begin in spring
by Ernest Rollins (erollins@heraldt.com)
A wooden covered bridge from the 1880's is set to be reconstructed this year in northern Monroe County. It will become the only covered bridge in the country, which once had as many as 14 but has been without for four decades.
The bridge will span Beanblossom Creek and connect North Maple Grove and Old Maple Grove roads.
The Cedar Ford Bridge project is one of the top projects for 2018, said county public works director Lisa Ridge.
"It has been on the books since 2001'" Ridges said, although she is unclear why the project was delayed for so long.
The project is slated to go up very close to the location of what was Monroe County's last remaining covered bridge, known in its later years as the Williams Bridge. It was destroyed in a 1976 fire that likely was arson.
The Cedar Ford Bridge was originally built in 1885 by the Kennedy Brothers in Shelby County. It was dismantled in 1975 and acquired by Monroe County. Ridge said the project will use some parts from that bridge, which were stored in an indoor facility.
"The siding and the roof have been lost due to poor storage procedures when originally dismantled in the 1970's," Ridge said. "It will require replacement of these and of some other timbers. However, the historic integrity of the structure will remain the same throughout the design of the project."
The Bloomington office of VS Engineering Inc. designed the project and construction is expected to cost an estimated $1.58 million. County officials are using an award from the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program received in 2008 to help pay for the project.
I think that we built the bridge that replaced the covered bridge
Channel 8 just aired this story as well. They contacted me to use my photo...which was a scan of an old photo I took around 1980 at the fairgrounds in Shelbyville.
Monroe County did have at least 2 Kennedy structures in the past. The Nancy Jane Bridge was lost when the Monroe Reservoir was built and the Judah Bridge was lost, later found, and finally dismantled.
Today's Herald Times reports Cedar ford bridge being restored in Monroe county.
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/news/local/monroe-county-so...
When I was in the 5th grade, used to live across from this bridge in it's original location on the Walkerville RD. Located outside of Shelbyville. Spent many a day there.
I just read an article on this covered bridge from LAST year that it would be reconstructed in MONROE County, Indiana where the McMillan CB stood and was never replaced when destroyed. This was on a Monroe County link when I googled Cedar Ford Covered Bridge that the county received a grant to do so. However this info has been going on for years. Cedar Ford was dismantled around 1990 at the fairgrounds and I was afraid the timbers rotted away. But then it said the timbers had been stored indoors. Hopefully word of reconstruction is right this time and not a joke. It would be great to see the bridge again!
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/in/shelby/cedar-ford-covered/
For what it's worth, here is another article:
Work on covered bridge expected to start in March
Span from Shelby Co. to be rebuilt on Beanblossom Creek
Tuesday, February 18, 2018
Bloomington Herald-Times
by Ernest Rollins erollins@heraldt.com
Work on giving Monroe County a wooden covered bridge once more is expected to start in early March.
Trees and brush need to be cleared in order for the Cedsr Ford Bridge to go up in northern Monroe County. It will span Beanblossom Creek in Washington Twosnhip and connect North and Old Maple Grove roads.
It will be the only covered brodge in the county, which once had as many as 14 but has been without any for four decades. It will be a newly constructed bridge, but will use old timber from another Indiana span.
The Cedar Ford Bridge was originally constructed by the Kennedy Brothers in Shelby County in 1885. It was dismantled and the parts were relocated to Monroe County in 1975. It is a single-span bridge, 127 feet long and 15 feet, 4 inches wide. While some of the parts rotted or rusted to a point that they couldn't be used, the goal is to recreate that bridge, combining old and new materials as needed. It will be built as close as possible to where Monroe County's last remaining covered bridge stood before being destroyed in a 1976 fire.
The Cedar Ford Bridge project will also include the realignment of approximately 1,4000 feet of roadway.
Bloomington-based CLR Construction is the prime contractor on the estimated $1.58 million project. The Bloomington office of VS Engineering Inc. designed the project.
Federal funds will pay for 80 percent of the project costs, with Monroe County to contribute the remaining 20 percent. Funding for the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program will help pay for the county's share of the cost.