The man responsible for managing a $1 million project to renovate one of Jackson County’s two historic covered bridges hasn’t had too much to manage lately.

Earlier this year, Duncan Robertson Inc. of Franklin received the contract to replace rotten and split timbers on the Shieldstown Covered Bridge, a 355-foot-long Burr arch truss bridge built by Joseph J. Daniels in 1876.

The company will use white oak for the floor beams, bracing, arches, chords and posts.

The project, which must be completed by Aug. 1, 2016, could have begun much earlier this year, project manager Brad Isaacs told commissioners last week.

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Isaacs is a project engineer with Janssen and Spaans Engineering Inc. of Indianapolis, which developed the plans for the project and is responsible for day-to-day project supervision.

Officials with Duncan Robertson, however, have told Isaacs they are having trouble locating enough white oak to begin the work, and that’s why the project start had been delayed, he said.

Yellow pine will be used in supports and rafters of the bridge, located 5 miles west of Seymour and one mile north of U.S. 50 on County Road 200N in Hamilton Township. The siding and battens will be yellow poplar, while the portal siding will be western red cedar. The company also will replace the roof and repair piers and abutments.

Isaacs said his concern is if the company can complete the work before the deadline. If that doesn’t happen, the company will face a $1,500-a-day fine.

Crews were scheduled to post signage about the project last week, Isaacs said.

By Wednesday of this week, the contractor had begun removing some of the wooden siding from the bridge.

Isaacs said the contractor knows he and the county are not happy with the delays in beginning the work.

Commissioners President Jerry Hounshel said it sounds like Isaacs has done everything he could to push the project forward.

Jackson County is the sponsor of the project and will pay 20 percent of the costs, while the Federal Highway Administration will pay the rest. The Indiana Department of Transportation administers federal money and assures compliance with FHA standards.

The project also will include a parking lot for people wishing to visit the bridge, which carried vehicular traffic until 1980, Isaacs said after the meeting.