Building and Moving a Huge Woodworking Project

[Andrew Joiner]

I saw this last night. Very inspiring.
https://www.pbs.org/video/operation-bridge-rescue-l8xnj0/

[Jon Nuckles]

I watched that as well and enjoyed most of it. I would have enjoyed seeing more on the actual building, especially the hand cut joinery, and a lot less of the manufactured drama surrounding the lifting and the moving. It felt a bit like watching construction related shows on HGTV or the DIY network, where there is some type of crisis prior to each commercial break to keep people from changing the channel.

[Bill Dufour]

My great grandfather built massive wooden church alters in the Chicago area around 1880. In those days the special wagons would break man hole covers as the went along on a Sunday morning before traffic built up. Interesting that they were working for a church on a Sunday.

[Lee Schierer]

In Ohio, they have a covered bridge group that rebuilds and restores covered bridges.

[Jim Barstow]

My parents had a summer house on a lake in NH and had it essentially rebuilt in the 1990's. The Graton's did the work and were great to work with. The result was very high quality: equivalent to fine furniture in spots. The plans showed a ladder to a sleeping loft so they built one out of cherry with mortise and tenons. The mantel is a very thick slab of walnut that they scribed and cut to fit a very uneven stone fireplace; it is remarkable how tightly it fits.

They said they loved working on covered bridges but there weren't that many opportunities.

[Don Orr]

Blenheim is not far from me and it was a very sad day when the bridge washed away in the epic flood from Irene. it was a long battle to get the funding to rebuild, but the community never gave up and got their amazing bridge back. It's a real center of community activities and pride. I have paddled the Schoharie Creek many times as it passes through beautiful farmland-the devastation from the flood was extensive. They are still cleaning up and rebuilding some areas. I have also paddled under the Hyde Hall bridge many times. We have a lot of history in this area. Schoharie County is referred to as the "Breadbasket of the Revolutionary War" for all the supplies that came from there.

[Charles Lent]

It was likely much harder to build the original bridge than this second one. They didn't have the cranes and moving equipment that they have today, so they quite likely built the first bridge in place. I've always wondered how many hammers, saws and carpenters went into the water before completing on of these 1st generation covered bridges. I've been across that old bridge, but it was many years ago, and I can still remember crossing it. It was a shame that it was lost, but I'm very glad that it was replaced, again with wood, and not steel.

Charley