In 2004 Hurricane Ivan destroyed the king post bridge over the Van Campen Brook adjacent to the present woodworkers shop. An idea soon grew into an action plan to replace the bridge with a town lattice covered bridge. John Tauke, one of our Friday work crew volunteers, took over the planning and organized a Covered Bridge Tour  to show the other volunteers what it was all about. Soon the necessary timber gathering started and is still in progress. The first visible evidence of a project has started to take shape with the beginning of the stone foundations. Hopefully they can be finished before the freeze takes over later in the year.

 For a Slideshow of the pictures below go to: Covered Bridge Project Slideshow 

John Tauke and Don Scott 9/26/2006	At the end of the day 09/26/2006	By October 8,2006 it grew to this	April 26,2008 laying construction base	April 2008 - Cribbing for bridge
The sawmill has been buzzing.	Can't you just see the bridge	Side rail begun	Laying and clamping side before drilling and pegging lattice	View across the brook from pier to side construction
By the end of 2008 the first truss is finished	During the winter of 2008 floor joists and braces are laid out.	During the winter of 2008 a lot of logs were sawmilled for the project	Thanks to a storm we were able to get all the cribbing we needed.	By the mid September 2009 both trusses are finished. Now the fun begins.
Each truss is now on separate cribs.	The first truss is partially elevated with hydraulic jacks.	The first of three gin poles is prepared for the lift.	All gin poles are in place for the lift.	The cranking begins.
Some people get to hold the rope.	The lift continues in good order.	It is getting brighter under here.	A safe landing has been accomplished.	Don,Arnie,John,Tom Harold and Rick. Steve took the picture.
Steve was the first to cross the bridge.	Second Truss ascending	Both Trusses Vertical	Setting Braces	Sorting out floor tie beams
Floor Joists Positioned	Next we move the left truss to join trusses	Nov 10-09 - Sides joined and ceiling and floor braces in place	Nov 20-09 Rafters and Rafter braces in place	Nov 20-09 The Lath boards being installed. By 11/25 1/4 of roof shingled
By December 2 the roof is almost completely shingled	Dec.4-09 - Still shingling but getting close to end	Dec 5-09 View from the village. It just started to snow	April 30,2010 The last of the ridge cap goes on.	April 30,2010 Next step is the move.

Chronology of the Bridge Project. 

Stone work for the Piers started in September 2006.

2007 - Gathering on lumber for the bridge as well as planning

2008 - First Truss laid out and pegged with 350 trunnels. Thats a lot of drilling thru 12 inches of wood.

2009 - Second Truss finished by mid September. The wet summer did not help with this project.

2009 - First truss is lifted into vertical position on October 1, 2009

2009 - Second Truss raised, floor joist tie beams installed November 6 and 7

2009 - Roof shingled by December 4 

Link to:Home Page