WASHINGTON, Ill. – Leaders in Washington came together on Tuesday morning to celebrate the reopening of a small, but historic bridge in the city.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for Candlewood Bridge near Glendale Cemetery. In addition, the bridge received a landmark designation from the Illinois State Historical Society.
The double-arch stone bridge crosses Farm Creek and was built in 1894. It’s also near the site where Washington’s first settler, William Holland, established his homestead in 1825.
City Engineer Dennis Carr says repairing the bridge required some back-and-forth discussions between the city and IDOT. He says the needed work to get the bridge back operational included fixing a headwall that separated from the bridge. Carr says the work included replacing the stones, anchoring stones that had fallen off to the bridge, and tuckpointing.
Carr says the repair cost was just under $500,000, and took a little over a year to complete the work.
Washington Historical Society President Jennifer Essig she was “thrilled” to get the historic designation for the bridge. She notes that the long history of the bridge, its location, and the architecture makes it a unique and historic landmark.
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