Tornado-Struck Moscow Bridge to be Rebuilt

WGN 14-70-07

 

MOSCOW, IN, August 8, 2008 - Rush County's Moscow Village lost its covered bridge to a tornado last June. While much of the village itself was damaged as well, it is planned that the bridge will be rebuilt by next summer.

The funds for the rebuild will come from a coalition of businesses, organizations, and individuals which will raise private money and donations of labor, materials and equipment. The group was organized by the office of Governor Mitch Daniels. The use of tax money is not realistic, the governor said, because of the bridge's location in a rural area and the low usage. Up to $400,000 might be needed.

The $400,000 will be raised privately by CSO Architects of Indianapolis, and by area residents. A Rush County committee will be created and a fund-raising account has been established in the name of the Moscow Covered Bridge Reconstruction Fund at Main Source Bank in Rushville.

Dan Collom, owner of Square and Level Construction in Parke County who rebuilt the Bridgeton Covered Bridge in Parke County, will re-build Moscow Bridge. Much of the wood salvaged from the original bridge will be reused.

Writes Tom Walczak, president of the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society of PA, "The bridge was a 2-span, 334 ft. Burr truss span across the Big Flat Rock River. It was built in 1886 by Emmet L. Kennedy and featured the fancy scroll-work on the portals, a characteristic of the Kennedy bridge builders. The large bridge was painted white and was last re-habbed in 2002. It was reported in one article as being the longest covered bridge in Indiana still open to traffic."