The new Mad River Riders bridge over the Mill Brook was delivered on a flatbed truck in two pieces and swung off the truck by crane to be bolted together before it was craned into position over the brook on August 28.
Project manager Bob Kogut, of the Mad River Riders, said that with the help of volunteers, including union iron workers, the task of assembling the bridge and lifting and guiding it onto the supports went very well.
“We’d have been done at noon except one piece on the landing platform was welded in the wrong spot and we had to grind it off to make things work,” he said.
The bridge is the centerpiece of the Mad River Recreation Hub, which includes the bridge connecting The Valley’s trail network to the community’s commercial centers in Irasville and Waitsfield. The Rec Hub also includes a visitors’ welcome center adjacent to Stark Mountain Bike Works, restrooms, recreation information, visitor parking and pedestrian/bike access to Irasville/Waitsfield.
The rec hub/bridge and other projects are part of a $409,000 Vermont Outdoor Recreation Collaborative Grant that the Mad River Valley Recreation District and its partner organizations received in 2022.
“It was pretty exciting when the bridge arrived. There were plenty of people who didn’t think it was ever going to show up,” Kogut said. In addition to those working on assembling and placing the bridge, there was a healthy contingent of enthusiastic spectators on hand last week.
Once the bridge was placed, volunteers began installing the decking which is kiln dried white oak, a local wood that is one of the more resilient hardwoods available, Kogut explained.
He said the decking was completed on Sunday and that volunteers are now working on framing for the ramps on either end of the bridge. The bridge runs from the southwest side of the Localfolk Smokehouse property to land off Dana Hill owned by the Laskowski family.
The framing for the ramps should be done by the weekend and then those also need decking.
“We don’t want to leave it unwalkable for too long. There’s a 6-foot drop at each end of the bridge,” Kogut said.
Although the bridge will likely be open before next month, there will be a grand opening celebration that has been tentatively scheduled for October 20. By then the rec hub parking lot and a restroom structure under construction by Yestermorrow will be completed and some riparian restoration along the banks and lands around the Mill Brook will be underway.
