Tony Dillon

They should have just restored the covered bridge and tuck-pointed the abutments at that time. This has to be one of the most scenic locations I have seen and it certainly looked much better with the old bridge there.

Ken, do you know if this bridge is really still in storage as is mentioned in the description?

Beautiful set of piers that look to be in great condition still. Satellite also shows that both abutments appear to be intact as well.

I would agree that this almost certainly represents a much older (and possibly original) crossing perhaps from an old turnpike... ie. Bedford to Paoli. It's pretty close to the current crossing and I don't think the piers look substantial enough to be from a railroad.

Unfortunately Mr. Manning, It would appear that this bridge's fate is what's locked...

Kudos to the local folks who balked at the idea of their historic bridge being replaced by a concrete ugly... AND more kudos to the Boone County Commissioners who actually listened!

The only thing that distracts from the beauty of this location is the constant traffic noise from I-65 that is just to the West of here. But it may just be the Interstate that saved the bridge from already being removed.

Appears to show up in current Bing imagery but sure looks to be gone when viewed in GE.

Let's just hope it shows up in a park somewhere.

INDOT did a complete about-face on this one. After deciding to rehabilitate instead of replace, a certain district chief with way too much power decided to raise a stink. Apparently he had an issue with the vertical clearance being just a couple inches under guidelines...DESPITE the fact that said clearance had already been deemed acceptable.

So another completely serviceable state highway Parker truss bites the dust. And although I won't give this award to INDOT as a whole, to that one gentleman who thinks he knows more than the rest of us... Here's to you!

Todd Baslee photo

And a Non-historic one at that!

Looks like it was made with Lincoln Logs and an Erector Set.

Very cool though!

Sadly, I knew with the storms coming through there that this was very likely to occur.

Another unfortunate loss!

There has been talk of wanting to make this into a trail bridge and if it is officially abandoned this would be the time to do so. There is already a trail that runs along the North end of the bridge. I will notify Indiana Landmarks Foundation about this possibility and see what they can find out.

Had a very nice paint job on it not too many years ago... But it sure didn't hold up very well.

Nearly all of the Bedsteads I have seen that are still in use have had their legs encased in concrete. I'm sure the county officials found this as a cheap and easy way to deal with deficiencies that often occurred with them.

News article about the repair of this bridge:

http://www.fema.gov/news-release/2013/04/01/fema-and-hsem-provide-more-15-million-combined-historic-bridge-repair

Amanda,

I took those pictures in June, 2008 and remember it pretty well. Of course as you know, the bridge sits right off of the road and is easily visible. When I was there I started taking pictures from the road and Mrs. Schreyer came out and was very friendly and was more than happy to talk about the bridge. Her husband, I believe, was the one responsible for moving the bridge to the family farm. She said they were talking about doing some maintenance on the bridge as it was getting a little shabby in places.

Fast forward almost 5 years and of course it is possible that things have changed. I would certainly say that you should approach the current owners as it doesn't hurt to ask and the worst they can say is no.

Oh now J.R.

Nothing but a little good natured jostling here! I see you as nothing less than a visionary with your uniquely tinted photos and your pole-mounted aerial cam! (Whatever happened to that one anyway?) ;-)