Trout Brook Bridge - Official Work Thread

[Eric Bolton]

Did someone say they wanted bootleg Yuengling? I'm coming up for the FWW this year and Yuengling is in great supply down here! I think I can find room for a case or three. The progress on the bridge is outstanding btw! Looking forward to seeing it all in person in a few weeks.

[Paul Uhland]

What's the latest in Bridgework?
When will it be permanently lowered onto its bents, short  spans set, track grade approaches done?

Its like watching the old serial action movies, waiting for the next thrilling chapter! 

[Mike Fox]

They worked on the bridge every day this week. Expect a report shortly. And hopefully pictures

[Jason M Lamontagne]

Bridge activity has been absolutely intense at least 5 days a week.  We had quite a crew surge today- I’d estimate 10 of us or so.

We’ve completed removal of temp spans, succeeded in adjusting the lateral position of the bridge around the north end, and begin jacking it down.  Every step is slow and careful.

Next steps include finishing the jacking down, removing temp ramps on north end, installing north mud sill, north approach spans, north approach ties, then partial decking.  Then we bring in stone for the south abutment, and put together that entire side.

See ya
Jason

[Bob Holmes]

Jason downplays (but describes accurately) the huge amount of work done every day this week, and projected going forward over the weekend and all next week, if necessary.  It's still an all hands on deck situation.  Come if you can.

The heroics of the weekday+ crew cannot be overstated:  Steve, Randy, Brendan, Phil, Jason, Zach, Linc, et.al. I counted 11 crew today including Dave from the contractor all scrambling and creating innovative solutions to get the job done!

[Brendan Barry]

Thursday/Friday pictures.

Removing ties off the first temporary span.







The first temporary span being lifted out.





Rollers under the south end of the second temporary span.



Rolling the second temporary span out from under the bridge.







First temporary span loaded on the trailer.



Second temporary span being lifted out and being swung over to the trailer.



The bottom of the bridge after the temporary spans were removed.



Jacking up the north end of the bridge to put rollers under the bridge to adjust the bridge sideways on the pile bent.



Steve cranking on the come along to shift the bridge sideways.

[Paul Uhland]

Spectacular!! By mostly volunteers, yet! 
Would love to see writeups in Engineering News Record, Trains, Railroad and Railfan mags. 
Also fitting would be a Bridge plaque listing all who had a hand in this project.   
Amazing, simply amazing.

[Joe Fox]

That would be a very long list. Lol. I'd say there has been probably 20 or more volunteers to help work on the bridge including but not limited to Jason, Brendan, Zack, Fred, Dwight, Steve L, Randy, Mark, Phil, Steve P., Steve Z, Mike, Dana, Rich Currie, Bob Longo, Bob Holmes, Michael Ross, Leon Weeks, James, myself, and a few others.

Edit: Also included Dave B, Bill R, Stewart, Linc, and many more.

[john d Stone]

Absolutely amazing! Everything planned out to the "n"th degree and executed perfectly!
I can't wait to get a look at this, in person!

Thanks to all you dedicated and talented folks.

John

[Bob Holmes]

Well, planned out to the nth degree, BUT not everything went as planned.  The genius of the WW&F is figuring out safe work-arounds when the plan didn't exactly go as expected.  That's the hallmark of Mainers whether native or from away...

[john d Stone]

And ya done good!

[Ted Miles]

Folks,
         Did you have to buy all those jacks, come-a-longs and other assorted equipment? Or was it possible to rent it? And yes, I think that a plate with that long list of names on it would be a good idea!

Ted Miles, WW&F Member

[Bob Holmes]

Chesterfield Associates -- Marine Builders in Maine (google them) have provided the heavy lifting including everything from the large crane to the small machine rollers, and everything else in between, such as a large variety of jacks.  They also custom built the "tongue"  at the front end of the bridge for the move, and the steerable wheels at the backend.  In particular, Dave the boss and Zach the skilled crane operator have been hands on for many days.  Their experience at moving and placing heavy objects like the bridge has been invaluable!

[Bernie Perch]

I have a question about Trout Brook unrelated to the current bridge project.  All the photos show the brook at very low water levels.  When the Mason's wreck occurred, locomotive #4 landed in fairly deep water at least five or more feet deeper than the current level.  Why was the water so deep?  It doesn't appear to be a high flood level and seems quite still.  Was there a dam further down stream?

Bernie

[Philip Marshall]

That's a very good question, Bernie. I had wondered the same thing. My first thought was a beaver dam, but that seems unlikely because beavers were extinct/extirpated in most of the US in 1905 because of trapping. (I'm sure there may have been a few beavers left in more northerly parts of Maine then, but certainly not in Alna.)