In the News

Indiana and Illinois lawmakers have reintroduced the Restore the Harmony Way Bridge Act which could mean the bridge gets a new life.

The Harmony Way Bridge connecting Indiana and Illinois in New Harmony, Indiana, was closed in 2012, but the Harmony Way Bridge Act, if passed, would clear the way for Indiana and Illinois to come together to talk about the future of the bridge.

The measure passed the U.S. House unanimously during last year's session but did not make it to the Senate. 

U.S. Representatives Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN) and John Shimkus (R-IL) with Senators Mike Braun (R-IN), Todd Young (R-IN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the bill.

“I am optimistic that this legislation will pass both chambers of Congress and finally breath life back into the New Harmony Bridge that extends from Indiana to Illinois across the Wabash River,” Bucshon said in a news release. “The Restore the Harmony Way Bridge Act will convey the Harmony Way Bridge to both the Indiana and Illinois Bridge Authorities – allowing the states to have management over the Harmony Way Bridge and write the next chapter for this historic bridge.”

Bucshon said the bridge was a "feat of American engineering when it opened, but after decades of use, the bridge was closed in 2012 due to structural concerns." 

Communities on both sides of the Wabash River in Indiana and Illinois want to see this historic community landmark preserved," he said. "Unfortunately, the federal law that led to the bridge’s construction has also prevented it from being refurbished and reopened by the states of Indiana and Illinois. Instead, the bridge sits closed and simply sitting in a legal limbo."

The bridge was built in 1930, and the year it was closed it was on Indiana Landmarks top-10 most endangered landmarks. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, but at the time in the Indiana Landmarks report said, "The span is still open, but Harmony Way Bridge faces a far from harmonious future."

“The Harmony Way Bridge is one of southern Indiana’s lost treasures, and I’m proud to pitch in to the great work Representatives Bucshon and Shimkus have done on both sides of the Wabash to help get this piece of Hoosier history back up and running,” Braun said in the release.

Young said he hopes this bicameral legislation will grant certainty to the New Harmony community. 

“Passage of this bill would allow Posey county, along with its neighboring communities, to dictate the future of this important, historic landmark,” he said in the release.

Duckworth said investing in Illinois' infrastructure is one of her top priorities. 

“I’m glad to join my colleagues in helping introduce this bipartisan legislation to eliminate red-tape, jumpstart repairs to restore the Harmony Way Bridge and build upon the important connection between our states," she said in the release.

Durbin said giving the local bridge authorities the responsibility over the bridge will help restore and preserve it. 

Stewart Sebree, who at the time was the director of the Indiana Landmarks Southwest Field Office, explained that the bridge's piers and abutments were declared structurally deficient, and repairs were estimated at $8.4 million. 

After the closure of the Harmony Way Bridge, the nearest alternative way to cross the Wabash was in Mount Vernon, Indiana, and on Interstate 64.

The bridge closure came at the same time as the closing of New Harmony School.

Congress created the White County Bridge Commission in 1941 as a joint Illinois-Indiana agency to purchase the bridge from the private company that built it, Big Wabash Bridge Company. 

The original plan then was for the commission to offer the bridge to either Illinois or Indiana once outstanding bonds had been retired. Those bonds were paid off in July 1955, but neither state was interested in acquiring the bridge from the commission. The commission continued to own the bridge — no other official body wanted responsibility — but it was closed on May 21, 2012, after an engineer’s inspection revealed the aging bridge was unsafe for traffic.

In 2014, the Posey County Commissioners, in a 2-1 decision voted to take ownership of the Harmony Way Bridge, but their commitment did not include the transfer of title protecting Posey County from financial risk, commissioners said at the time.

Shimkus said the federal law creating the White County Bridge Commission has prevented the two states from being able to take advantage of popular ideas to repurpose the bridge since its closing. 

The new commission will be tasked with determining the future of the half-mile once-toll bridge connecting Illinois Route 14 with Indiana 66, known as Church Street in New Harmony.

Abbey Doyle 
Courier & Press