NEW HARMONY — The bridge connecting New Harmony and White County, Ill., was closed on Monday afternoon, several days earlier than expected.
Shortly before 3 p.m., Illinois State Police announced the bridge was shut down as officials with the Illinois Department of Transportation posted “bridge closed” signs on Illinois 14.
The closure was mandated Sunday night, when White County Bridge Commission members voted to close the aging span at noon May 29 — the day after Memorial Day. But Monday afternoon, state police from Illinois and Indiana were posted at both sides of the bridge, blocking traffic from entering the structure.
Earlier this afternoon, State Police were posted on both sides of the Wabash River until the road closed signs were erected. For a few hours today, a very limited amount of traffic was being allowed across the bridge. No vehicles were being allowed on the bridge without permission of Commissioner Jim Clark, who was on site.
By 3 p.m., the road closed signs had been posted and the bridge was officially shut down.
The closure is in response to the results of an April 29 inspection of the bridge by nine engineers.
The New Harmony Bridge opened to traffic in 1930. In 1941, Congress established the three-member bridge commission and handed it control of the bridge.
In 1998, Congress eliminated the mechanism that allows for appointments to the commission. If the current members were to quit or die, the bridge would have to close because there would be no one left to oversee its operation.
On September 25, 2007, the bridge was closed after inspectors found a crack in a support pier on the west side of the bridge. The closure lasted 8 months, reopening in April 2008.
The four-span bridge had linked Illinois 14 in White County to Indiana 66 in Posey County. The deck is only 20 feet wide with a 36-ton load limit. Farmers, farm service companies, oil producers and Illinois residents commuting to jobs in Evansville routinely use the bridge.
With the bridge closed, travelers crossing the Wabash River will be forced to use either the Interstate 64 bridge south of Grayville or the bridge that links Illinois Route 141 to Indiana 62 west of Mount Vernon.