S. Indiana county getting its 1st covered bridge in decades

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - A southern Indiana county that lost its last covered bridge to a 1976 fire is getting a new one that isn't new at all.

Crews will begin rebuilding that dismantled 1885 bridge this spring across Beanblossom Creek in northern Monroe County.

Most of the span that's known as the Cedar Ford Bridge has been in storage since county officials acquired it in 1975 from central Indiana's Shelby County.

Monroe County public works director Lisa Ridge tells The Herald-Times the bridge's siding and roof will be replaced during the estimated $1.6 million project because they were damaged during their decades in storage.

The county that's home to Bloomington once had as many as 14 covered bridges, but the last of them was destroyed in a 1976 fire that was likely arson.

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Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com