Easily found on Route 26 at roadside, the freshly rebuilt Rinard Bridge is noted as stop #4 on the Covered Bridge Byway. It's one of four Monroe/Washington County Bridges crossing the Little Muskingum. The original Rinard Bridge was built in 1871, lasting only five years and destroyed in a flood. Along came the Smith Bridge Company and constructed a new bridge using the Smith type truss pattern, patented by the Tipp City, Ohio native, Robert W. Smith. This bridge design was tested in 1913 and 1938. Twice washed downstream, the trusses were numbered, then dismantled and finally reassembled on the original piers. Again, during a flood of 2004, the bridge was washed from its foundation and again remained intact downstream, only to be ripped apart a few weeks later during a successive flood.
     Timbers and trusses were salvaged by the Righter Company and the bridge was able to hold its national register designation. The bridge is now off limits to traffic, but remains in the inventory of national treasures. At one time, Ohio's covered bridges tallied over 2,000, more than any other state. Today, the Rinard Bridge is one of the state's remaining 136 covered bridges, and one of ten in Washington County.