State money will help cover the cost of new covered bridge in Madison County

The state says it’ll devote 700-thousand dollars from a federal transportation grant to rebuild Madison County’s Cedar Bridge. The historic covered bridge was destroyed in an arson fire four months ago. Madison County Engineer Todd Hagan says a West Des Moines design firm has been hired to create the plans for the new version of the 1883 bridge using existing photos and measurements from what’s left of the bridge.The county already got a check from the insurance company for 300-thousand dollars. When combined with the new state money, that’s an even million, which is how much officials thought it would take to rebuild Cedar Bridge, which was one of six remaining covered bridges in the scenic rural town. Hagan says there have been several local fundraisers too since the September fire. Hagan says the local fundraisers, which have drawn international attention, have brought in somewhere between ten-and-50-thousand dollars. He says construction should begin on a new bridge in a few months. They expect to let the bids in late summer and begin construction by October. The bridge could be completed by early winter of next year. No arrests were made in the arson case.