A new covered bridge opened in Rockville with a ribbon-cutting ceremony just days before the county's biggest tourism event of the year, giving Parke County its 32nd such structure and a fresh starting point for a growing trail network. The Depot Bridge, built for pedestrians only, took roughly a decade to move from idea to reality before finally welcoming its first walkers this week.
According to WTHI-TV, the bridge officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony just before this weekend's Covered Bridge Festival. Project manager Mark Davis told the station the idea had been floating around for years before it finally came together. “It's been a vision for about ten years to do it and it's finally come true,” Davis said. He also credited the way local relationships came together to make the project happen, saying community connections helped the project fall into place.
A Decade of Planning Meets Six Months of Building
While the vision took ten years to form, the actual construction moved relatively fast. Dan Collom and his sons, Lucas and Matthew Collom, built the bridge in six months, according to mywabashvalley.com. Collom described the effort as one that demanded grit, time and commitment, and said it took a group of people all moving in the same direction to get it done.
Community members pitched in wood, time and manpower to see the project through, the station's report notes. That kind of grassroots support echoes how Parke County has built covered bridges before — the station reports that the Bridgeton covered bridge was itself built in 2006 by Dan Collom and the local community to replace an earlier span over Big Raccoon Creek.
Matching a Design That's Generations Old
Because covered bridges are a specific and old-fashioned form of construction, engineer Jim Barker had to study how they were built generations ago to make sure the new span matched the traditional look and structure. Per the same account, Barker drew on details, plans and observations of construction methods from about 150 years in the past to get the design right.
Barker also spoke about what makes these structures worth preserving in the first place. He described wooden bridges as a kind of art — the type you can walk through rather than something you simply hang on a wall. It's a sentiment that fits Parke County's broader bridge heritage: per Wikipedia, most of the county's historic bridges were built of poplar wood in the Burr Arch style.
A New Trailhead Linking Rockville and Rosedale
Unlike bridges built to carry vehicle traffic, the Depot Bridge is restricted to pedestrians because of its size and its role as part of a walking trail, mywabashvalley.com reports. The bridge will also serve as the starting point for a planned trail spanning from Rockville to Rosedale, with the span and an accompanying half-mile stretch forming part of a larger 1.75-mile expansion project led by the Parke Trails Alliance.
The same report notes that much of the planned trail winds through rural terrain, offering walkers a chance to spot wildlife and take in varied landscapes along the way. For a county built around its covered bridges, the new trailhead gives residents and visitors another reason to explore on foot rather than by car.
Festival Season Arrives Right on Cue
The timing could hardly be better. The Depot Bridge's opening comes just ahead of the 2026 Covered Bridge Festival, which WTHI-TV reports is scheduled to run from Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 18, spanning 10 Parke County communities. Festival organizers at coveredbridges.com describe it as a 10-day event that always kicks off on the second Friday in October, showcasing the county's historic covered bridges.
Parke County has held some version of this festival every October, according to Wikipedia, drawing visitors eager to see the structures that have long defined the area's identity. With the Depot Bridge now open, the community has a brand-new addition to enjoy alongside the county's older, historic spans as festival crowds arrive this month.
