INDOT says Newberry bridges are safe with the one-lane restriction

A few months back, a 14-ton weight restriction was imposed when engineers became concerned about the fast aging of the bridge structures over the White River and an overflow ditch.

The span bridges, which were constructed in 1940, have been under close watch and scrutiny from INDOT officials for a number of years.

The Indiana Department of Transportation has lifted the weight limit restriction on the State Road 57 White River and White River Overflow bridges near Newberry. A 14-ton gross limit had been imposed in late December to protect the 'integrity' of the bridges until they are reconstructed in fiscal year 2013. Traffic signals were installed on each end of each bridge to allow traffic to flow starting Tuesday afternoon. Each structure will have one 16 foot lane. Loads that are of legal weight (80,000 pounds) or less will be allowed to travel across the structures. Here, a large truck waits for the signal to change to proceed north over the White River bridge. (Greene County Daily World/Nick Schneider)

"We felt it was aging a little faster so we kept a strong eye to it. When we felt we started to see the first little bit of not looking the way it should be, that is when we decided we are going to take charge. We're going to get in front of this (problem) and keep anything from going wrong and having another Minnesota situation," according to Indiana Department of Transportation spokesperson Cher Goodwin, who works out of the Vincennes District office.

Some people and companies, who regularly travel State Road 57, voiced some concerns to the Indiana Department of Transportation when a 14-ton load limit was placed on the two bridges in late December 2009 saying it impeded the movement of larger trucks. Others have raised safety issues since the weight restriction was lifted and the new traffic pattern was started this week, according to Goodwin.

"We've had different concerned citizens call in to talk about the weight limit, but as far as receiving complaints from any large trucking company from the area, no we've not received a numerous amount of complaints. Nor, to my knowledge we haven't had any calls from the governor's office or the commission's office telling us we needed to change our plans," Goodwin said.

Goodwin contends the 70-year-old bridges are safe to travel.

"The structural integrity of the bridge is not compromised at any point. We have no concern of anyone traveling across that bridge, whether it be a car, a busload full of children or a caravan of semis. We are not that concerned for the overall integrity of the structure. If we felt at any point that it was weak and could not handle multiple semis crossing it at one time, we would close it down. There is no question about it. We would shut it down."

She continued, "We (INDOT) would never ever put motorists at risk at all ... we would never do anything to compromise that."

Goodwin says the conversion from the temporary 14-ton weight limit to legal load limit of 80,000 pounds with one-lane traffic control was always the plan for INDOT.

Time was needed to install electrical service to both bridges to control the traffic lights that are needed, according to Goodwin.

"We knew we had to do something until we could get all of this set up. We knew all along, once we got the signals in place we would be taking the weight limit back off," she told the Greene County Daily World.

The one-lane traffic flow over both bridges will stay in effect for at least three years, according to Goodwin, who said the bridges are slated to be replaced some time during the 2013 fiscal year.

"We have to do it as funding allows in comparison to the other bridges in the district and the need ratings that they have as well," she explains.

Goodwin said the age of the bridges has raised replacement concerns from a historic and environmental view with the presence of the protected Indiana Brown Bat.

"We have to be cautious when we are doing anything around the bridges. We have some challenges that we are faced with, but we are definitely not going to turn away or turn our eye from (the safety) situation," Goodwin noted.

Despite assurances from INDOT officials who have declared the bridge aged, but safe, one area woman contends she will not cross the bridges under the current traffic flow pattern.

"I live in close proximity to the bridges in question and I will not cross these bridges unless it is an extreme emergency," said northern Daviess County resident Cynthia Petty, who has contacted INDOT offices in Vincennes and Indianapolis with her concerns.

Petty believes there are "other reasons" why the load limit was lifted, but said she didn't want to comment further on her "gut feeling" that the reason for the change may have been pressure from some frequent users of the roadway.

"I just think it is putting people in danger," she said.

She has asked INDOT officials why they lifted the 14-ton limit and questioned their rationale behind it.

"The question I posed to INDOT was this: Soooooo ... let me see if I am understanding this correctly. You fear two trucks meeting but yet ... by backing traffic up with a light and one lane, you run the risk of six, seven, or eight loaded coal trucks all being stopped at the light, get the green light and all proceed across the bridge one behind the other, right? What is unbelievable is what I was told in response. Uh ... you have a point," Petty told the Greene County Daily World.

"I told him, this is scary. You are putting lives at risk. I told him, 'You already know there are problems with that bridge and there is a chance that that bridge could go down'."

Petty stressed that she wasn't satisfied with the answers she received and will not use the bridges.

"As for myself and my family ... we will not be going over that bridge. I have learned enough to know that there is the risk of getting dropped into the river and will not take that chance while the people in charge of our safety obviously will," she said. "My suggestion is to travel over this bridge at your own risk."

She explained that because of her safety concerns for crossing the bridge, she will be traveling through Sandborn on State Road 58 to State Road 59 and then go on State Road 67 to reach a dentist appointment in Lyons, rather than traveling the more direct route on State Road 57.

"I guess it's OK for me to spend my gas to go all of the way around to avoid those bridges, but it's not OK for others," Petty concluded.