A year after crash, Red Covered Bridge in Princeton awaits plan finalization before repairs begin

A little more than a year ago, Princeton’s historic Red Covered Bridge was damaged when the driver of a semitractor-trailer tried to pass through it, damaging the 149-foot structure.

The Illinois Department of Transportation said Monday that it doesn’t know the cost of the damage, what repairs need to be done or when it might be opened.

“A team of engineers and technicians has visited the structure and is preparing a bridge condition report,” said Paul Wappel, a public information officer for IDOT. “This report will present the findings of the bridge inspection and identify needed repairs. We anticipate that the report will be completed in the coming months.”

Over the summer, Lin Engineering LTD in Springfield surveyed the Red Covered Bridge.

After the bridge was severely damaged Nov. 16, 2023, bridge maintenance engineer Luis Calderon, of IDOT District 3 in Ottawa, said the impact was so strong that it ripped off the trailer roof of the semi and created a large gash through the bridge’s roof.

The bridge remains closed to traffic. Although the bridge continues to be assessed, IDOT’s in-house construction unit installed temporary shoring last December to maintain the integrity of the roof until a permanent fix can be made.

The Red Covered Bridge’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places requires additional coordination with the State Historic Preservation Office to ensure the historic aspects of the bridge are not significantly changed during the repairs, District 3 program development engineer Michael Short previously said. Compared with a conventional bridge construction project, covered bridges are unique, as they contain many wooden components.

Short also said phase one of repairing the bridge is to finalize the report, which can take up to 18 months. He said construction is not expected to begin for a few years.

The Red Covered Bridge isn’t the first historical project that District 3 has undertaken. In 2019, the district worked with the State Historic Preservation Office to patch a stretch of Old Route 66 between Chenoa and Pontiac in Livingston County. The $640,392 project required colored concrete and special finishing techniques to closely match it to the color and texture of the existing concrete.

The Red Covered Bridge has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975. The bridge had one distinction over the other covered bridges in Illinois: It is the only one open to traffic. According to the most recent statistics, the bridge accommodated an average of 275 vehicles a day.

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An aerial photo of the Red Covered Bridge on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Princeton. On Nov. 16, 2023, a semi truck caused severe structural damage on much of the 149-foot bridge that was built in 1863. (Scott Anderson)