THE COVERED BRIDGE PROJECT
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Stearns Morrison Enterprise/ submitted article 4/30/2008
Minnesota's Longest Covered Bridge
Work to begin in Holdingford on state's longest covered bridge
Construction will begin Friday, May 2, on the covering of the bridge on the Lake Wobegon Regional Trail over Two Rivers-River in Holdingford. When completed this will be the longest covered bridge in Minnesota.
The Lake Wobegon Trail is used by bicyclists and walkers during the summer and by snowmobilers in the winter. This is a great attraction for Holdingford. The trail in the area is one of the most beautiful biking and hiking trails in America with many great views, farmland, lakes, creeks, wildlife and hills. The Lions Club members feel that this project will increase tourism to the community and improve our economic development. A cover will also improve the safety and aesthetic appeal of the bridge.
The Holdingford Lions have spearheaded this project with the cooperation of the City of Holdingford, Stearns County Parks, the Lake Wobegon Trail Association and many other organizations. The US Army Reserve's 367th Engineer Battalion will provide the labor for building the cover. For the past several weeks parts have been prefabricated in Mankato. On May 2 the parts will be
shipped to Holdingford and the actual construction will begin. It is estimated that it will take three weekends to complete the work
On May 3,the Holdingford community will hold a community work day. Some people will be planting trees along. the trail south of the bridge. Other people will be staining the cedar siding and still other people will be painting the railroad boxcar at the city's trailhead park. Along with the Lions Club, the Holdingford Garden Club, the Holdingford High School Student Council and FFA, the St. Joseph Society, the Five Parish Youth Group, Helping Hands Outreach and many individuals will work on these projects.
Materials for the bridge cover are being paid by local contributions. Many individuals and organizations have contributed already. Most notable are payments or pledges from the Holdingford, Albany and St. Stephen Lions, Holdingford American Legion, Holdingford Commercial Club, Lake Wobegon Trail Association and individual Lions.
In the near future an entry park will be created. This will provide parking and a handicapped accessible sidewalk a short distance from the bridge. The Minnesota Statehood Sesquicentennial Commission has awarded the city $3,000 to provide
information at this entry park Cooperating with the city and the Holdingford Lions in creating this park will be the Holdingford Area Historical Society and the Holdingford Garden Club.
The idea of covering the old railroad bridge over Two, Rivers River began at the same time as the railroad was being converted into the Lake Wobegon Regional Trail. The City of Holdingford, under the direction of Mayor Rosemary Scepaniak, applied for a grant but was not successful. A brief comment was made to a Lions Club member who mentioned it to the club as a possible project. Another Lion was retiring from the Army and had worked on similar projects in the service. In 2005 the project began to take shape. During 2006 old plans and grant papers were found and evaluated. An architect was hired and discussions began with the Army Reserves. In February of 2007 the Stearns County Board of Commissioners and in March 2007 the US Army Reserves approved the project.
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Minneapolis Star Tribune
Army Reservists to help Minnesota town build covered bridge
By PAUL WALSH,
Last update: April 30, 2008 - 3:06 PM
Minnesota Army Reserve unit members and residents from Holdingford this week will start building a cover for a historic 19th-century era bridge along the Lake Wobegon State Trail.
Participation by the 492nd Engineer Company of Mankato starting Friday is part of a training exercise.
At 164 feet, promoters say it will be the state's longest covered bridge. The project is being headed by the Holdingford Lions Club. The cover is being assembled in sections in Mankato and then will be moved to Holdingford for installation on the bridge, which spans Two Rivers.
"We need this bridge to improve economic and historical conditions in our community as well as the whole Wobegon area," Holdingford Mayor Ernie Schmit said in a notice to citizens, "by attracting tourists who wish to hike, bike, jog or snowmobile along a groomed and well-maintained trail.
"When completed, this will be among the longest active covered bridges on a trail in the nation."
The trail, which runs from St. Joseph to Sauk Centre on one segment and Albany to Holdingford on another, is built on an abandoned rail line and opened in 1998.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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Mankato Free Press Published April 30, 2008 08:51 pm -
A Mankato-based Army Reserve unit is set to deploy again, but this time the destination isn’t Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia or anywhere else where there’s a potential for battle.
Bridge detail for Mankato Army Reserve to go to Holdingford
http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/
By Dan Nienaber
The Free Press
MANKATO —A Mankato-based Army Reserve unit is set to deploy again, but this time the destination isn’t Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia or anywhere else where there’s a potential for battle
In fact, the 492nd Engineer Company won’t even be leaving Minnesota. They’ll be traveling about 130 miles north to Holdingford during the next three weekends to build a covering over a historic train bridge, which is now part of the scenic Lake Wobegon Trail.
When the work on the 164-foot bridge is done, members of the Mankato unit will be able to say they helped build the longest covered bridge in the state. It also will be one of the longest covered biking and hiking trail bridges in the nation, Mayor Ernie Schmit said.
And the central Minnesota town will be welcoming the unit with plenty of food, a place to stay and a slew of residents ready to help out.
“This is a big deal for Holdingford,” Schmit said. “We’re going to have a community work day on Saturday. Our garden club, the school and some other organizations will be planting about 300 trees along the trail and another group will be staining wood that will be used to build the bridge.”
It’s a job the 147 Mankato-based troops will be looking forward to as well, said Sgt. 1st Class Sid Askeland.
“They’re happy that they’re going to do something they’ve been trained for,” he said.
Between 30 and 35 troops will be in the town of about 650 residents each of the three weekends, said 1st Lt. Douglas Hayes. The first crew will leave Mankato Friday morning. They’ll get to Holdingford in time to be served lunch before spending the rest of the day working. Then they’ll work all day Saturday and half the day Sunday.
For complete story, see the Thursday, May 1, 2008, print edition of The Free Press or sign onto our e-edition.
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St. Cloud Times May 4 -2008
The bridge of Stearns (not Madison) County
Holdingford builds covered bridge
By Kirsti Marohn • kmarohn@stcloudtimes.com • May 4, 2008 HOLDINGFORD —
It took eight years, a mountain of paperwork, a research trip to Iowa and recruiting a company of soldiers. Thanks to the efforts of some determined residents, Holdingford is finally about to become home to what’s believed to be the longest covered bridge in Minnesota. The idea was proposed in 2000, said co-organizer Al Leinen, a member of the Holdingford Lions Club. But efforts to get federal or state grant funding failed and the project stalled, he said.
Two years ago, the 25-member Lions Club decided to get involved, Leinen said. Members started fundraising and donated more than $9,000 themselves.“It just grew and grew and grew,” he said. To get ideas, a few of the project organizers visited covered bridges in Madison County, Iowa, made famous by a Robert James Waller novel and a 1995 movie version starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep.
They chose a 19th century design, which will feature cedar siding and a steel roof.“We’re going to try to make it look like the older bridges,” Leinen said.Aware of the increased scrutiny of bridges since the collapse of the Interstate Highway 35W bridge in Minneapolis last year, they had a structural engineer analyze the bridge and help with the design.
“It’s a very good bridge,” Leinen said. “It will withstand the little weight we’re going to put on there.”Once county and city officials gave their blessing, the organizers started looking for a source of labor. They found it in the 492nd Engineer Company, a Minnesota Army Reserve unit based in Mankato.Members of the unit will spend three weekends this month in Holdingford working on the project.
The project will be complete in time for a grand opening May 18.Community members got involved Saturday, with staining the siding and planting trees on the agenda.Local high school students have been recruited to join, Leinen said, with the hope that their involvement will reduce graffiti in the future.
Leinen said a few city residents were disgruntled about the cost of materials for the project, estimated at $50,000 for the first phase and another $50,000 later for an entry park, parking lot and handicapped access. With fuel costs on the rise, the project is running over budget.
Project organizers have raised about 60 percent of the funds so far, Leinen said. “We’re just very persistent and stubborn people, so we’ll make it work,” he said.
City officials think the bridge will become an attraction for tourists and bring an economic benefit to Holdingford.
Mayor Ernie Schmidt noted that when he and his wife travel to the East Coast, they stop to see the covered bridges of Pennsylvania. “I think it’s going to be good for the community,” Schmidt said.
Even just having 45 soldiers in town for nine days this month will give local businesses a boost, Leinen said. “An extra 45 meals three times a day is quite a bit more than we’re used to,” he said.
The Lake Wobegon Trail runs from St. Joseph to Osakis, with a branch heading north from Albany through Holdingford. It’s open to bicyclists, pedestrians and snowmobiles.
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Holdingford has the newest, and longest, covered bridge in Minnesota
Original Morrison County Record Story-Photos May 24 2008
Tina Snell
Staff Writer
The newest covered bridge in Minnesota will soon be across the Two Rivers River in Holdingford. It will also be the longest in Minnesota at 186.5 feet.
Covered bridges are becoming a rarity on the American landscape. They have been romanticized in poems, novels and song, but are an item of the past and are slowly disappearing from sight, due mostly to the lack of upkeep.
When a covered bridge falls into disrepair, the cost of repairing the bridge only can put a dent into a community's funds, let alone adding a cover to it. So, many times, the bridge is rebuilt without a cover, or the road is rerouted and a new bridge is erected, without a cover.
There are 18 covered bridges currently in Minnesota. Some have been recently built, others have been around for a long time. The oldest was built in 1869 near the town of Zumbrota over the Zumbro River. The shortest at 12 feet is located in Centerville Township between State Highways 35E and 35W.
In 2000, Holdingford's Mayor Rosemary Scepaniak got the idea to construct a covered bridge on the site of an old railroad bridge that spanned the Two Rivers River. The old railroad property was then being converted into the Lake Wobegon Regional Trail to be used by hikers and bikers in the summer and snowmobilers in the winter. She approached the city, the Lions Club and other organizations in town, to see if they would support the idea. The idea was well-received, and the Lions became the driving force behind the project.
The Army Reserve 492 Vertical Construction Company out of Mankato was contacted to do the work. Members are trained in carpentry, plumbing, electrical and masonry work. Beginning in February, the company put together the 18 trussses for the bridge in Mankato and then shipped them to Holdingford.
The actual construction of the covered bridge on the Lake Wobegon Trail began May 2. Three platoons from the company, a total of 113 reservists, came on three consecutive weekends to do the work. The last platoon to work on the bridge planned on not sleeping to complete as much of the bridge as possible, as it was the last weekend they would be in Holdingford.
The design for the bridge was due to the work of Lions Tim Berschied and Al Leinen. They studied covered bridges and came up with a variety of options that the club voted on. Originally, the bridge was going to be 164 feet long, but two abutments were added on each end, adding 22 feet. Those abutments will contain seating areas for weary travelers.
"This is the first covered bridge we have constructed," said 1st Lt. Douglas Hayes, the company's executive officer. "It has been the most interesting project we have ever done."
The funds to accomplish this project were donated by both the Rice and Holdingford Lions, the town's American Legion, Sportsman's Club, Commercial Club and from individual residents. Support also came from the Stearns County Parks, the Lake Wobegon Trail Association, the Holdingford Garden Club, the high school student council, the FFA club, the St. Joseph Society, the Five Parish Youth Group, Helping Hands Outreach and many others.
Grants were received from the Initiative Foundation and the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission. Valspar donated the stain.
"Our goal was to raise $100,000 for the cover," said Lion Rod Harren. "We are planning to put in parking facilities with historic plaques and an entryway leading to the bridge. We figure the total cost of the bridge will come to $150,000.
"A future grand opening and ribbon cutting is being planned," said Harren.
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1st Lt. Douglas Hayes, left and Holdingford Lion Rod Harren stand on the newest covered bridge in Minnesota. It is 186 feet from end to end, making it the longest covered bridge in the state. |
Service clubs, the city of Holdingford and local residents helped fund a covered bridge over the Two Rivers River on the Wobegon Trail. A hog roast for the Army Reserve 492 Vertical Construction Company from Mankato May 18, celebrated their involvement with the project. |
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