A long awaited project to upgrade the metal bridge on Old Vincennes Road over the West Fork of the White River should begin in the spring. The bridge is on an historic register but needs some serious upgrading because the load limit has been lowered to four tons.
"This project should raise the weight limit to more than 15 tons," said Daviess County Highway Superintendent Phil Cornelius to the Daviess County Council.
The project to upgrade the metal bridge has been in the discussion, design and consideration phase for a dozen years. During that time both Daviess and Knox counties have been putting money toward the project as part of the eventual matching funds for a state and federally funded project. The problem has been getting the project off of paper and into pavement.
"We have really been working on it diligently the last two years trying to get things wrapped up and out to bid," said Cornelius. "The first bids came in way to high a year ago. It was re-bid recently. Some of the design got changed and the procedures were changed. We got more bidders on the project. It came down from $2.2 million to $1.8 million."
The federal government will be paying about $1 million on the project. The Indiana Department of Transportation will put in $745,000. Knox and Daviess counties have already put about $188,000 toward the project and each county will be putting in an additional $100,000.
"I will be coming back to the county council at the next meeting seeking the $100,000 to complete our share of the match," said Cornelius.
The project will not only upgrade the bridge, but it will also cut down on the hill on the Knox County side to even out the approach to the bridge. Officials point out that the bridge may be historic but it has plenty of practical use. "There is a need," said Cornelius. "Around 400 or 450 cars a day use it. A lot of commuters between Washington and Vincennes use it. There are several river cabins out there and during flood events that bridge is the only way out other than boats."
The project is expected to begin in the spring and take two years to complete. "I am tickled to death," said Cornelius. "Any time you have a project that has been in the works for this long, it brings a degree of satisfaction when you know it is going to get built."