INRD opens upgraded White River Bridge

The Indiana Rail Road on Aug. 21, 2015 officially opened it new White River Bridge, which replaces a structure built 116 years ago incapable of handling modern heavy-haul freight trains.

The new steel-girder and pre-stressed concrete bridge, located two miles north of Elnora, Ind., represents a $14 million investment “that will support commerce and economic development from Daviess County to the Ohio River for another century,” said INRD. It will handle trains at 40 mph and 286,000-pound GRL (gross rail load) freight cars, “keeping southern Indiana shippers competitive in the global marketplace.” The previous pin-connected truss bridge was built in 1899 and, in recent years, had weight restrictions and a speed limit of 10 mph due to its age.

INRD serves a variety of southwest Indiana customers through its Odon Transload, a rail-to-truck transfer facility near the Interstate 69-State Road 58 interchange. The Indiana Southern Railroad (ISRR) also uses the bridge to link the north and south segments of its Indianapolis-Evansville route.

INRD President and CEO Peter Mills said the new bridge “makes possible numerous business development opportunities for the railroad and the region. Thanks to our Odon Transload’s close proximity to Naval Support Activity (NSA) Crane and I-69, we see a host of economic development opportunities for the Town of Odon and the entire I-69 corridor. With a combination of superior customer service and aggressive co-marketing of the region with our local partners, we can bring a lot of opportunities for growth.”

Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly, Indiana 8th District Congressman Larry Bucshon and Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann headlined a celebration of rail investment and economic development August 20 at the bridge’s grand opening. “The offices of Senator Donnelly, Congressman Bucshon and the Indiana Department of Transportation were instrumental in helping to secure a federal TIGER Grant, which made the bridge replacement financially possible,” said INRD. “INRD, ISRR and a host of shippers also made significant capital investments.

“We look at this bridge as such a critical part of the growth of southern Indiana,” said Donnelly. “You hear a lot of stories about partisan politics, but this is a perfect example of everybody working together, making sure our communities thrive and grow.”