The Jackson County Commissioners approved a contract Tuesday from an Iowa-based company to clean and treat the roof of the Medora Covered Bridge.

Sullivan Roof and Exterior Cleaning will clear the bridge’s roof of common brown rot fungi for $3,850. The roof, which is made of cedar, also has moss, mildew, lichen and mold.

The work will take about two days and be completed in late spring or early summer, Jackson County Highway Superintendent Jerry Ault said.

The work also will include a wood treatment to help prevent mold.

“He looked at it and said he could do whatever need to be done, clean seal and treat it,” Ault said. “He has been doing this kind of work for over 40 years.”

The Jackson County Highway Department maintains the county’s bridges.

The county received another bid from an Osgood-based company, but it was substantially more. Enneking Pressure Cleaning Inc. bid $32,602.50 for the work.

The bridge recently was vandalized with graffiti in about 10 spots, including the west entrance.

Ault said the department set out to clear the bridge of graffiti but was sidetracked by last week’s winter storm and flooding from the East Fork White River.

The bridge, constructed by J.J. Daniels in 1875, is one of the county’s biggest attractions, drawing about 20,000 visitors annually. People from all 50 states and many countries around the world have visited it.

The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, and a $1.3 million restoration project was completed in 2011.

It’s touted as the longest historic covered bridge in the country, spanning 430 feet over the East Fork White River along State Road 235. Its length is about 406 feet.