The Bean Blossom Covered Bridge on Covered Bridge Road was closed to all vehicle traffic last week and a reopening date has not been set yet.
Brown County Highway Superintendent Mike Magner explained in an email last week that the bridge was closed due to results of a recent inspection and new weight limit calculations required by the Federal Highway Administration.
Magner didn’t have an estimate for when the bridge would reopen, but added that materials will be ordered for the repairs and that it will be fixed as soon as possible.
Covered Bridge Road can be accessed from State Road 135 on either side of the historic bridge.
The Bean Blossom Covered Bridge is one of the bridges in the county that are inspected once a year or even every six months depending on their condition.
A question about how much it will cost to repair it was not answered by deadline.
The 101-foot-long bridge over Bean Blossom Creek was built in 1880 for $1,200. As of 2017, it was one of only three of its kind left in the state.
County commissioner Diana Biddle told The Democrat in 2017 for a story about this bridge that the state gives each county with a covered bridge an annual “allowance” of $1,850 to help with upkeep and repairs, and that any additional money needed for upkeep can come from the county’s bridge fund.
As of 2012, the average daily traffic on the bridge was 38 cars.
