Last Updated on April 25, 2016 by cassnetwork
The deteriorating condition of the base of the Market Street Bridge in Logansport will not allow the bridge to be restored.
Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell said today that engineers from the Indiana Department of Transportation and DLZ, the city’s infrastructure and engineering firm, have recommended that it not be restored.
“What this means is that we will be unable to maintain thru traffic from downtown to the west side for much of 2018 when the project is scheduled to be built,” Kitchell said. “We want the eventual bridge to mirror the historic Third Street Bridge, including the railing and streetlighting, and that will be able to be done.”
The Third Street Bridge over the Eel River is one of three Luten Arch bridges in Cass County. The Lewisburg and Market Street bridges are the other two. Former Cass County Engineer Jodi Coblentz, who is on retainer with the city through DLZ, was instrumental in restoring the Lewisburg Bridge over the Wabash while she was county engineer.
Deputy Mayor Mercedes Brugh learned through meetings with INDOT officials and DLZ that bridge integrity is scored on a scale of one to 10. On that scale, the Market Street Bridge ranks as a one.
While INDOT is working on the project, which will involve federal aid, it will eventually become the responsibility of Cass County. For many years, the bridge was a state-owned structure when traffic from U.S. 24 and Ind. 25 was routed downtown. The opening of the Hoosier Heartland changed the ownership, and the state relinquished control of the bridge to local officials. The last major repairs on the bridge were completed in 1986, and that project included redecking.
SOURCE: News release from the City of Logansport