New Harmony Wabash River Bridge

(Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

Street View, 2008

When I crossed the bridge a couple of years ago, I waited until I was ready to go home rather than do an over and back when I first visited the bridge because it charged a toll. I was glad because on the Illinois side you are on a raised road that has no shoulders for miles. And it looked like there was no where to turn around on the connecting roads. So I would have had to drive a long way before I could turn around if I had done an over and back. They must have closed the bridge soon after I did that crossing because it was closed May 21, 2012, when the toll company declared bankruptcy. Evidently the tolls went into someones pocket instead of into maintenance. I notice that Google and Bing Maps have removed the line across the river from their road maps. But Bing still has the line on their Birds Eye View.

If you look at the list of bridges in Posey County, there is already a remarkable number of truss bridges that have been replaced. Many of them in the 1990s. Even one that was rehabilitated in 1990 is now gone. I wonder if the same contractor did most of the new bridges. If so, is he a friend of the bridge inspector or a county board member? Or was there money available during the dot.com boom and the county wisely used it to fix their infrastructure? The reason local governments replace rather than repair bridges is that it is cheaper for them because the Federal Government will pay 90% for a new bridge and 0% for repairs. By "cheaper for them", I mean the local government. It is more expensive for the taxpayer because we pay federal as well as local taxes.


Vicki Sigrist Gilbert posted a photo.
Michael Brant Brittany Marie Thies that bridge is not there no more came down last year it’s on you tube
Dennis DeBruler Michael Brant Would you provide a URL? All I can find is 2018 news casts that are talking about reopening it.