Nowland Avenue Bridge

The Nowland Avenue Bridge was designed and built in 1903 by nationally renowned engineer Daniel B. Luten, based in Indianapolis. It’s the oldest remaining Luten bridge in Indianapolis and an early example of the patented Luten Arch. Steel rods encased in concrete under water connect the bottoms of the arch to stabilize it, like a string keeps the wood of a bow taut. This allows the bridge to be lighter and less expensive to build while maintaining stability — a Luten hallmark. The graceful curve of the arch was influenced by the City Beautiful movement of the early 20th century to build structures that were attractive as well as functional.

Unfortunately, the Nowland Avenue Bridge is a historic landmark that has been neglected and deteriorating for decades. The bridge has deteriorated to the point it is becoming impassable. It is also impeding completion of the 5.3-mile Pogue’s Run Trail, which lies directly along its route.

Because of this, Pathway’s Over Pogue (POP) a grassroots group of Near Eastside neighbors formed in the summer of 2017 to advocate for the repair of the historic Nowland Avenue Bridge. In 2018, the POP campaign raised over $40,000, which was matched by $30,000 from the Central Indiana Community Foundation for a total of $70,000. In addition, Reconnecting to Our Waterways (ROW) contributed another $70,000 through a Cummins Foundation donation. $140,000 was more than enough to pay the $80,000 needed to design the repair of the Nowland Avenue Bridge. The design was completed by engineering firm RQAW in May 2020, which estimated cost to repair at $524,000. Now that the design is done, the second phase of fundraising has begun to raise the money needed for the repair.

There is an urgency to raising the funds because, the longer the delay between design and repair, the more expensive the project becomes and the more POP’s hard-earned $80,000 spent for design will be chipped away. Permits will need to be reapplied for and the bridge will continue to deteriorate which can increase the amount of work needed and potentially require reanalysis of the repairs.

For more information about POP and the crusade to save the historic Nowland Avenue Bridge visit https://popindy.org/