Picture of the Day - 8/19/2010

Moscow Bridge, Moscow, IN - The Moscow Covered Bridge (built in 1886) is one of many in Indiana, but this one merits a special story. Good friend, Bob, and I photographed this bridge in some detail May 23, 2008. But here's the rest of the story... Previously, and that same day, we had photographed another bridge that had been reconstructed following an arson-caused fire. We just happened to stop in at a store in that same town for sodas and started talking covered bridges with the lady at the counter. It turned out that she and her husband own a construction company that had actually done the reconstruction. Here's where the story takes a twist. Eleven days later, on June 3th that same year, the Moscow Bridge was completely destroyed by a tornado. Our pictures may have been the last ones taken of the original bridge. Following the tornado, Bob and I rephotographed the damage August 27th and decided to supply our pictures to the lady just in case they ended up doing this reconstruction, as well. Turns out they were asked to rebuild it, and this year, we were there again to document the rebuilding. About 30% of the original timbers were able to be reused, but everything else was fabricated with the construction techniques and materials used at that time period. The grand reopening is scheduled for September 25th!