The Huntley Meadows (Kids) footbridge-a photo essay of the day to day construction

Check out the original story at the end of this one to read the history of this bridge

I found out recently from a listserv posting that the Kids Bridge components were in place at the Huntley meadow awaiting assembly and movement to a permanent location site.

And this is the location

Editors note: The completed bridge is scheduled to be permanently placed at this location sometime tomorrow morning. A special request from the committee is to note: that the Kids bridge will be blocked at each end so kids or people too! don’t try to use it before it is opened. It will need to be decked after installation. I will be taking final photos as the bridge is set or soon afterward and include them in this story so stay tuned.

I also will try to get a group photo of the installation team if I can get them to sit still long enough. These guys are like the military special forces as they swoop in get the job done and swoop right out again, and you don’t even know they are there. Here is a partial list of the Special Forces team of assemblers that worked very hard all week to meet this goal.

Bob Fisken, Jim Faughnan ,Nick Krembs, Jesse Krembs,Peter Griggs, Tom Griggs, Gerry Plummer,Peter French, Bridge Mc Dowell, Don McCabe and I hope I did not miss anyone. Graham Webster and his crew will be setting the Bridge in place. Jeff Goodrich from Pathways Consulting LLC donated services as well. There are probably several more to thank but this story is about this week and the work that was done to get the bridge ready.

Hoping the weather cooperates so that Graham Webster and crew can install it on Saturday.

And here is the listserv posting:

14. Happy Thanksgiving From Kids Bridge Crew
From: Don McCabe <don-mccabe@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2023 14:17:19 -0500

Kids Bridge components are now in place at Huntley Meadow, ready for assembly by project members and helpers as soon as weather permits.

Project manager Bridge McDowell will supervise, Norwich Trails members will assemble, and Norwich families will enjoy safe and convenient access to Huntley Meadow over Blood Brook.

Mother Nature, who rules the weather, will tell us how fast or slow the process will take. But you can show your support for this community project right now. Send your donation, made out to Town of Norwich, to:

Kids Bridge Project
PO Box 805
Norwich VT 05055

I stopped by the playground to see what was being built

The assembly took about a week and I stopped by periodically to take these photos.

A neatly folded tarp did not give me any clues

But this long runway was starting to make things a little clearer

So I headed over to talk to the crew and asked to see the plans

I was guided over to a table with a few drawings and building plans.

Very intricate specifications and must be important as security was tight if you know what I mean.

Now I see something taking shape here

A busy crew double checking their work against the specs.

And not even taking the time to look up. ( No group photo today! )

All in one days work.. not bad

And a little snow the next day did not even chase this crew away as they came back for more. Like the old saying goes a little snow or rain does not stop these guys from their appointed rounds.

I was told that the security dog needed to take a dog walk so they all went for a short hike.

But as you can see from this photo, they did come back into it and even made up for some lost time , I would say.

Coming along nice and easy and starting to look like a bridge

Parts are dwindling as seen in this photo, must be they made their way onto the bridge

And on the next day she is looking like a bridge and this should be the last day of construction Next step is placement of the bridge to its permanent home.

Now it is Friday the day before the big move and things are ready to go.

This will be its final resting place and it will be moved into place as soon as the weather cooperates.

She is looking fine and almost ready to be called a real bridge.

It will be moved into place soon as long as the weather cooperates

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If you want some history on the bridge here it is:

This is the story of the original bridge that was built as an eagle scout project.

The picture below was provided by Don McCabe as a facsimile of what the new bridge would look like.