Preserving a piece of history

**This bridge, which had been located south of Buck Grove since 1945, is being installed at Yellow Smoke Park to replace a trail bridge that showed signs of significant deterioration.** Photo by Gordon Wolf

An old rainbow truss bridge that had been located just south of Buck Grove now has a new home at Yellow Smoke Park.

The bridge, which crossed Buck Creek, was built in 1945 after the original bridge at the location was washed out by flooding.

The bridge had reached the end of its design life after more than 75 years of use.

“We removed it from its location in late summer and stored it in the yard,” said Crawford County Engineer Paul Assman.

The county bridge crew built a new bridge in its location over Buck Creek.

The old bridge was no longer suitable for vehicular traffic, but could be used as a trail bridge, Assman said.

“Earlier this year, (Bridge Crew Foreman) Tim Beery and I were asked to go out and take a look at one of the bridges in Yellow Smoke Park; an existing timber bridge,” Assman said. “While we were out there looking at that bridge, we walked over and looked at another bridge; a walking bridge off of the main trail.”

They could see significant signs of deterioration.

“We suggested to the conservation department – (Director) Chris Gosch and the board - that perhaps this bridge near Buck Grove would be a good replacement for that decaying timber structure,” he said. “Everyone agreed that it would be a good location for it.”

Story Ads 1

**The old bridge, in its new location, will be easily seen and accessed by campers at Yellow Smoke Park.** Photo by Gordon Wolf

The bridge crew had mostly wrapped up the scheduled work for the year and had time to take on the project.

“The conditions were good,” Assman said. “The ground was dry and we could get in and do the project without much damage to the area around the park, because we had to access it with heavy equipment.”

Conservation employees started the removal of the bridge and county employees did the rest.

The county bridge crew put in new pilings on each end of the span.

Reconstruction of the old rainbow truss bridge began at the location on Friday afternoon of last week.

Assman said he expects work will be complete by Thursday of this week, with placing the deck as the last task to complete.

“I think this is a really nice preservation of a unique structure in an area that will be visible to campers; it’s directly across the lake from the campground,” he said. “It will provide a unique opportunity for people to easily access it and view it as they’re enjoying camping and all the other things the park has to offer.”

Follow us on Facebook for the latest news and updates