FLOYD COUNTY, In. (WDRB) -- A hole in the Blackiston Mill Road bridge was recently repaired with a metal plate, and Floyd County engineers said it's structurally safe for drivers.
This weekend, the hole caused the common thoroughfare over Silver Creek to be closed. Floyd County Director of Operations Don Lopp said a new bridge has been in the works for about 15 years.
While Floyd County heads the project, four municipalities are involved since the bridge sits on the Floyd County/Clark County line. Clarksville Town Councilman Mike Mustain said there's federal funding to help get the project paid for, and that's why the project has been in the works for so long.
"We were proactive," he said. "We went back and we started on this long before we needed to."
Lopp said the bridge sees an average of 4,500 cars a day. Mustain said it's lifeline between the two counties.
"It is humongous the amount of cars that this actually carries," Mustain said.
The bridge has a long history. Mustain said the first one there went up in the late 1800s. The version that stands today was rebuilt in 1964 after a disastrous flood. But now, it's the history surrounding the original land where the Blackiston Mill stood that's causing a slow down for the $5 million bridge project.
Lopp said the project's environmental review is looking into the historical prevalence of the old mill's land, something that is going to push back the original groundbreaking from 2023 to early 2025.
The new bridge will still have one lane in each direction and should improve quality and safety, the location moving upstream to the other side of the dam of Silver Creek.
The plan is to keep the original bridge location up and open to drivers during the entirety of the project.
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