Bridge on S.R. 46 closed due to cracks

The Indiana Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that it was closing a bridge on State Road 46 over the Eel River.

The bridge is located near Bowling Green, Ind., between Bloomington and Terre Haute.

A Crawfordsville District Bridge Inspector performed a bi-annual inspection of the S.R. 46 bridge and discovered a crack in one of the gusset plates on the bridge.

The bridge will be closed indefinitely while inspectors determine the extent of the damage and how much repair, if any, will need to be done to put the bridge back in operating condition. Traffic is re-routed to nearby roads until the bridge is repaired.

This is the second major bridge closure in Indiana in less than two months. Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered the closure of the Sherman Minton Bridge, a heavily trafficked bridge that spans the Ohio River between Kentucky and Indiana near Louisville, Ky.

The bridge was closed after similar structural frailties were noticed by bridge inspectors. Repairs are currently being made on that bridge and it should be reopened some time this fall.

— Zach Ammerman