VINCENNES, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — A highly-traveled bridge in the Wabash Valley is now closed and will remain closed for the next several months.
While many residents use the Lincoln Memorial Bridge in Vincennes often to cross the Indiana/Illinois border, they will now have to find a new route. The closure of the bridge is so that crews can complete a Federal Parks project.
Joe Herron is the Chief Ranger of nearby George Rogers Clark National Historical Park. Herron said the repairs will fix an issue having to do with the bridge’s pins that hold the granite stones on the bridge’s approach, mentioning that one of the stones fell out last year creating a safety concern.
“[The stone] is granite. The pins that are holding it in are actually made of iron. They should have been steel or aluminum in the first place so you can see where the iron has kind of leeched out of the stone over the last 90 years,” Herron explained.
Herron said that the stones will need to be removed and that crews will be working on the repairs for about four months through the end of April. The Indiana Department of Transportation provided suggestions for a detour by using the Red Skelton Bridge on US 50. INDOT also offers their app, Traffic Wise, that can help people plan their routes.
While the closure will add some time to people’s commutes, the Associate Pastor at Thursday Church in Vincennes feels the work is necessary.
“Although it might be a little bit of an inconvenience, as a church, as our parishioners, we want to make sure our community is safe and well, and so, if this something that we can be inconvenienced by for a little bit, but yet serves in the best interest of our community, we absolutely want to do that,” said Andrea Clegg, Associate Pastor of Thursday Church.
