The historic centerpiece of a new greenway is now in place.
After a six-year restoration project, the Bell Ford Covered Bridge is open on the Geist Greenway at 104th Street and Florida Road over Fall Creek in Geist Park.
The result: a 160-foot bridge using 40% of the original timber and 60% of the steel beams, with a couple of modern touches like translucent side panels and soft lighting inside.
“It’s rare that a park feature can offer beauty, function and historical significance all in one,” said Chris Stice, Director of Hamilton County Parks and Recreation. “This is a work of art and engineering, one of its kind in the world.”
Hamilton County acquired the 156-year-old bridge from Jackson County, where it had sat in storage after collapsing into the White River two decades earlier. Officials shipped the bridge to Hamilton County, which hired a firm to rebuild it piece by piece to replicate its original grandeur.
The Bell Ford is the last remaining covered bridge in the United States with a combination of timber and wrought iron truss — known as a Combination Post Truss Bridge — and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt said he expected the unique architecture to make it a tourist destination. In fact, he said, it already is.
“I’m hearing from a lot of people already thanking us for this and the calls are from all over Indiana,’” said Heirbrandt.
The bridge officially opened June 19 in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Heirbrandt, who led the effort to get the bridge, said the project has been the most satisfying of his career on the commission.
“It has been amazing to see this through from beginning to end and all the collaboration involved,” Heirbrandt said.
The agencies involved in the $3.8 million project to move the bridge included Hamilton County Parks and Recreation, the County Highway Department, the city of Fishers, Indiana Department of Transportation, Fall Creek Township and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Jackson County did not have the money to take the Bell Ford out of storage and fix it so it gave it to Hamilton County in return for a $25,000 donation to Jackson County’s Round Barn Restoration Fund.
One section of the bridge collapsed into the White River in Seymour during a storm in 1999, and the other half fell in 2006. The parts were hoisted from the riverbed and saved in a Jackson County barn, were a bridge historian and engineer kept detailed instructions on its design.
VS Engineering, of Indianapolis, restored the bridge.
The $4.2 million Geist Greenway stretches from 104th Street to 126th Street east of Olio Road. Plans call for extensions to 131st Street to the north, linking with the Saxony development, to 96th Street to the south, a distance of 5 miles.
Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418 or email him at john.tuohy@indystar.com. Follow him on Facebook and X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Restored covered bridge ‘a work of art and engineering’ opens on Geist Greenway
Reporting by John Tuohy, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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