Our family went camping recently to our favorite campground, King Mountain. Saturday morning our daughter Catheryn awoke at 5:30 am. She didn't go back to sleep. Her daddy took her for a drive so that her mother could sleep. This is what we did for the morning.
We were able to see Castle Mountain bathed in morning sunlight. Castle Mt. is pure rock with very little vegetation on it. The slopes of the mountain are steep and it does look like a castle. At various altitudes on the visible face there are what appears to be knights standing guard.
We came upon this old wooden bridge. It seems that this was once used to cross Chickaloon River but a newer steel bridge has been installed. Sentimental folks decided to keep this as a reminder of days past. It sits along the road near the place where it once was used. Now it is an interesting photo opportunity.
We were able to see Castle Mountain bathed in morning sunlight. Castle Mt. is pure rock with very little vegetation on it. The slopes of the mountain are steep and it does look like a castle. At various altitudes on the visible face there are what appears to be knights standing guard.
We came upon this old wooden bridge. It seems that this was once used to cross Chickaloon River but a newer steel bridge has been installed. Sentimental folks decided to keep this as a reminder of days past. It sits along the road near the place where it once was used. Now it is an interesting photo opportunity.
Doesn't Catheryn look so cute in her red pajamas with her baby in its blanket? I thought this was an interesting study in bright colors amidst aged graying wood.
A closeup of Catheryn with her large beautiful eyes, and her pretty smile. This morning we built bridges to each other's hearts. I love Catheryn.
In 2013, I was working at DOT. I learned that my coworker’s husband was the project engineer. He also happens to be the father of bfalldorf who commented before. The project engineer provided me the following information.
The existing wooden bridge (a Thru-Howe Truss) was in service from 1917 to 1982. It was part of a railroad line that ran up the Matanuska River to service the coal fields at Chickaloon and Sutton. The railroad quit running in the late 1920's, early 1930's after the US Navy quit using coal to power their boilers (changing to bunker oil). The Glenn Highway follows a lot of that alignment now.
The reconstruction of Chickaloon Road, and the replacement of both bridges was my first job as a DOT Project Engineer. We moved the bridge intact to the site it now resides. We built a temporary bridge under the wooden bridge (after we poured 80cy of concrete under the existing pier to stabilize it) and jacked it up to where it was level with the lower chords of the wooden bridge. We then jacked the wooden bridge up and set 4, 200 ton Hillman rollers under each corner. Then we pulled the wooden bridge with the third drum of a 140 ton crane. We built a "road" with 12x12 crane mats 20' wide, with steel tracks (to keep the rollers in line) for the bridge to roll on. When we got to the resting site, we spun the rollers 90-degrees and pushed the bridge sideways to where it now sits. If you look closely, you will notice that the bridge is not quite parallel with the road as I would have liked. But with our final push to final position, the bridge said "ENOUGH". And we agreed. And there it sits. Some good thinking folks later put the much needed roof on the bridge. And as I noted in the final job report: "The remaining vestige of a time gone by."
The wooden bridge at the second crossing was dismantled, we stockpiled it and others took it somewhere near Palmer for whatever. There was not much left.
2 comments:
In the early 1980's the State pulled the two wooden bridges off Chickaloon River Road, and replaced them. My dad was the project engineer in charge of the job. My family has a cabin off the right side of the road, immediately after the first bridge, and I remember we stayed up there all summer. My dad is a bit of a bridge nut, and he thought it important to preserve the bridge, so when they removed it, they rolled it down the road on rollers, and put it where it sits to this day. I believe that it is the last bridge of its kind in existence in the world, and I know that I spent many long hours playing on the bridge as a kid.
Bfalldorf. I am so happy that you left this message. I always wondered why this bridge was left on the side of the road like this. If you are interested, could you contact me via email? I would be interested in learning more about this bridge. Perhaps old photographs from when your dad worked on this?
curtistownsend@gmail.com
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