Covered bridge set to re-open

St. Joseph County Road Commission and other county officials plan a ceremonial ribbon cutting Friday afternoon to commemorate re-opening of the Langley Covered Bridge.

The 282-foot-long span is expected to re-open to traffic hours later following a closure that began Sept. 11.

Crews from Grand Haven-based Anlaan Corporation, contractor for the $3.2 million overhaul, were adding siding to the west side of the bridge, and buttoning up a variety of odds and ends Monday and Tuesday.

Ray Davis, project supervisor with Anlaan, said it will take a fair amount of time to clear construction equipment from the north side of the bridge. Nonetheless, the Covered Bridge Road closure and detour will be lifted by the end of the afternoon Friday, he said.

Davis said weather-sensitive tasks – including the application of a coat of red paint to the exterior of the west side of the bridge, painting the structure’s support beams and adding a roof over the fisherman’s windows – will have to be performed in warmer weather later this year. The impending tasks, in, fact, will likely require another closure in the spring, albeit for less than a week.

Traffic surveys have confirmed an average of about 2,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily.