Bridges of Columbus, Indiana: Red Icons & Historic Covered Bridges

Columbus is home to three remarkable bridges that captivate anyone who appreciates great design and engineering beauty. Each within a few miles of each other, and ranging in style from a traditional covered bridge nestled in a city park, to a cable-stayed bridge situated to frame a stunning entrance into the community.

All three bridges are located on the Columbus People Trail and you can even cross two of the bridges.

The New Brownsville Covered Bridge

The New Brownsville Covered Bridge is the focal point of a beautiful circular pond in the award-winning Mill Race Park, created by the legendary landscape designer Michael Van Valkenburgh. The hundred-foot bridge is the only long-truss structure in Indiana and it can transport you all the way back to 1840, when it was built to cross the East Fork of the Whitewater River near Brownsville. The bridge is also a stop on The Indiana Covered Bridge Loop – you can connect with this fascinating chapter in American history. The bridge is also, you will quickly realize, an ideal backdrop for selfies for your Facebook and Instagram posts! Get more details about this bridge, which has a vertical clearance of 13.5 feet.

The Robert Stewart Bridge

The Robert Stewart Bridge, just around the corner from the Brownsville Bridge, frames the entryway into downtown Columbus and beautifully demonstrates a modernist merging of art and engineering as the first cable-stayed bridge of its kind in North America. The bright red steel supports connect steel tension cables arranged in an arc that is dramatically lit in the evening hours. Renamed Robert N. Stewart Bridge in 2013, the bridge now recognizes Columbus’ three-term mayor.

Gateway Bridge

Columbus’ other dramatic red cable-stayed bridge at Exit 68 on Interstate 65 acts as the front door to a city and announces to all who are heading north and south that there is something entirely unique to be experienced in this city with so many architectural assets that it lives up to the claim that it is “unexpected” and “unforgettable.”

In addition, if you are adventurous and can venture off the well-trodden path, Columbus also has two bridges listed on The National Register of Historic Places – New Hope Bridge, on County Road 400 N, over the Flat Rock River and Pugh Ford Bridge, on County Road 900 N, over the Flat Rock River.

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