COLUMBUS, Ind. — County officials have signed an agreement with an Indianapolis engineering firm to begin work needed to replace the Lowell Bridge, which crosses the Driftwood River south of Columbus.
A $1,189,700 design and construction agreement with United Consulting Engineers of Indianapolis was approved by the Bartholomew County commissioners on Monday.
Work on the bridge is expected to begin after July 1, 2026.
Since the new bridge will be built south of the existing one, engineers will also realign the junction of Lowell Road and County Road 325W to accommodate heavy traffic, county officials said. The county plans to keep the current bridge open while the new one is under construction, Bartholomew County Highway engineer Danny Hollander said.
Up to 95% of motorists who cross Lowell Bridge utilize County Road 325W and Lowell Road to travel between U.S. 31 and State Road 46 West, Hollander said.
“It has become a significant bypass to get around the city traffic,” commissioner Tony London said.
Due to rising construction costs, the total cost of the entire project is expected to be about $11 million, the commissioners estimated. That compares to $195,000 spent in 1959 to construct the 433-feet long existing bridge.
The only county-maintained bridge longer than Lowell is the 1,600-foot Southern Crossing bridge and connecting road that opened in 1996, Kleinhenz said.
While the county has already been awarded $8 million to start building a new Lowell Bridge, the federal matching grant won’t be available for another four years.
“When you start dealing with federal funds, there are just a lot of hoops you have to jump through,” Hollander said.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
