The Wabash Memorial Bridge carries vehicular traffic across the Wabash River between Indiana State Road 62 and Illinois Route 141. The 4,932 foot long, two-lane bridge is located in both Posey County, Indiana and White County, Illinois. The bridge is operated by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). The bridge was built in 1956 and has an estimated life of 75 years.[1] It consists of a three tied arch through truss spans, flanked by six plate girder approach spans on each side.[2] It is the southernmost span connecting Illinois and Indiana, with the next bridge to the north located in New Harmony, Indiana. Other than the Indiana Tollroad, it is the last toll bridge with tolls collected in Indiana (there are other toll bridges in Indiana but tolls are collected in ether Illinois or Kentucky).[3] The bridge has an average daily traffic of 4,000 vehicles.[4]
In a $1.67 million resurfacing of the bridge, the contractors used hydrojet demolition instead of jack-hammering to remove a layer of the existing concrete surface. As a result, the project was completed in four months. The bridge remained open to one lane of traffic throughout the construction.[5]
Effective January 1, 2011, INDOT has adopted an electronic toll collection system for the bridge, with users being required to obtain a transponder in order to use the bridge more than once per year.[6] The new automated toll collection system cost $900,000.[6] Tolls are 50 cents for cars, 30 cents for motorcycles or bicycles, and $1.70 for six-axle trucks. The last toll increase was in 1984.[7] Customers pre-pay their tolls on-line or over the telephone using an e-check, debit card or credit card. Each driver will have a windshield decal that contains a transponder circuit associated with the driver's account.[8] Over 7,000[3] of the ISO 18000 6C sticker tag transponders from Federal Signal/Sirit have been issued.[4]