Southern Indiana railroad bridge to be replaced

A photogenic Southern Indiana steel-truss bridge that has borne rail traffic across the White River for the past 116 years will be replaced with a modern span starting next month.

Built in 1898, the Indiana Rail Road bridge in Greene County north of Elnora sits on one of the busier stretches of track in the state. Tons of Indiana-mined coal bound for Indianapolis power plants crosses the old bridge, as does all sort of other railed freight, from corn to industrial parts.

In recent years, a 10-mph speed restriction was put on the bridge, which is still anchored to wood-pile approaches. Indiana Rail Road acquired the bridge in 2006 from the Canadian Pacific Railway but couldn’t afford the $14 million replacement cost, which exceeds the local railroad’s annual capital budget for its entire system.

Over the past several years, the railroad worked with customers and the state to come up with the money. The largest chunk is an $8 million federal transportation grant received last year.

Other funds come from Duke Energy, Indianapolis Power & Light and Indiana Southern, an Indianapolis-to-Evansville shortline railroad that uses the bridge.

The new bridge should be a boon to the area’s economy and numerous rail users, including the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division and a truck-rail transfer station that Indiana Rail Road built at Odon.

If not for the new bridge, “southwest Indiana commerce and economic development would suffer,” Indiana Rail Road CEO Tom Hoback said.

The 450-foot steel-plate girder replacement bridge should be finished by October 2015. It will not only easily support modern railcars that weigh up to 286,000 pounds and travel 40 mph but will allow double-stack containers.

The only major structural elements of the old bridge that will be reused are the bridge piers that sit in the water. They’ll be reinforced with concrete casing.

Call Star reporter Jeff Swiatek at (317) 444-6483. Follow him on Twitter: @JeffSwiatek.