The Old Richardsville Road bridge over the Barren River was closed in March after the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet found structural deficiencies during a routine inspection. Now, Warren County government is trying to save it.

“This is a pretty rare bridge,” said James Edmunds, the KYTC District 3 engineer who discovered the bridge’s unsafe state. “And it’s an older bridge, too. There’s not a whole lot of truss bridges.”

The main challenge in repairing this 150-year-old structure is securing funding.

“The county has been exploring a couple of different funding options,” Warren County Public Works Director Josh Moore said, but none has proved promising so far. “It’s been on hold.”

Moore said the county possibly could obtain funding through a state fund not traditionally associated with bridge repairs: the state’s emergency road fund.

“We’ll probably be reaching out for an application,” Moore said, but he’s unsure whether this project will fit within the fund’s scope.

The one-lane bridge leads to a residential area, and without it, the residents gain access to the neighborhood road about a mile away via Ky. 185.

One of those residents is Ross Richey, a Bowling Green businessman who believes the alternative route is hazardous.

To access Ky. 185 from the neighborhood, the residents now have only one entry point from Old Richardsville Road. Making a right turn onto Ky. 185 requires what could be described as a sharp J-turn maneuver, and traffic traveling from the left is coming down a curving road, so there is low visibility.

Richey hopes the county will be able to move forward with repairs soon, since fall is approaching and before long it could be a year before any type of construction begins because of weather conditions.

“I guess I’ve been a little bit anxious to think that everyone’s ready to move forward,” Richey said. “It’s only prudent for the county … to take the time and do their due diligence so that these repairs aren’t done in vain.”

The 138-foot long bridge was built as far back as the 1870s and later added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was condemned in the 1980s and was soon after bought and restored by a local businessman, David Garvin. The bridge became county property after Garvin’s death in 2014 and was once again condemned earlier this year.

“What’s at stake here is the historical significance, it’s a one-of-a-kind bridge,” Richey said.

The historical value of this bridge has not gone unnoticed.

Workin’ Bridges, an Iowa nonprofit organization that specializes in historic truss bridge repairs, has already submitted a proposal to Warren County Fiscal Court to undertake the bridge restoration, which would be substantial.

A steel truss bridge typically consists of connected, triangular units held together through tension or compression.

Edmunds observed the visible deterioration of the trusses and damage to the tension rods on this “substandard” bridge, which is limited to vehicles weighing three tons or less, and consequently recommended its closure.

“In my experience, we haven’t had to deal with this (old type of bridge) too often,” Edmunds said.