‘Deficient’ Indiana Bridge Needs $8 Million in Repairs

Inspections of a bridge that links southwestern Indiana with southern Illinois show that the 80-year-old span needs about $8 million in repairs.

The Evansville Courier & Press reports that recent inspections of the toll bridge over the Wabash River gave it a rating of “structurally deficient.” That’s the same rating given the Minneapolis bridge over the Mississippi River that collapsed in 2007 and the recently closed Sherman Minton Bridge near Louisville, Ky.

The chairman of a bridge commission in adjacent White County, Ill., says engineers have estimated the bridge needs $8.4 million in repairs.

But the bridge’s toll revenues aren’t enough to support bonding for such an expense. One option would involve Indiana and Illinois taking over the bridge, but Indiana officials say they aren’t interested in that.