Historic bridge finds a new home
NORTH OF UNADILLA - It wasn't difficult to find the caravan moving a historic bridge from Nebraska City to Lincoln on Wednesday.
Just follow the trail of green branches and leaves down narrow and dusty gravel roads.
"We did some tree work for the county," joked Darrell Ensor, a truck driver with Ensor Movers Inc. in Johnson.
But his job was no laughing matter. He and his crew had to make sure the huge bridge, loaded in one piece on a flatbed trailer, stayed on the road as the caravan of vehicles made its way to Lincoln along a mostly rural route through Otoe and Lancaster counties.
The Lincoln-based Lower Platte South Natural Resources District hired L.J. Webb Inc. of Geneva and Ensor Movers to recondition and relocate the bridge from Nebraska City to the 100-acre Lincoln Saline Wetland Nature Center, east of Capitol Beach Lake.
For the district, it is a way of providing a viewing platform and footbridge for a nature trail and preserving a piece of history.
The 126-year-old bridge is an early example of a King bowstring - one of the last surviving trusses of its type, according to the book "Spans in Time: A History of Nebraska Bridges."
Officially known at the Wyoming bridge, the 70-by-14-foot structure once spanned Squaw Creek north of Nebraska City. The bridge was one of three ordered by Otoe County in 1878 from King Iron Bridge Co. in Ohio. It may have gotten its name because it was near the former town and railroad stop of Wyoming.
Last November, the bridge was lifted from its original piers and placed in temporary storage nearby. Then it was stripped and primed gray before the move, which began at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Total cost of the project is estimated at $215,000. The district received a $135,000 federal grant through the Nebraska Department of Roads to help relocate the bridge. The district said salvaging the historic bridge was cheaper than building a new one.
Mike Mascoe, a spokesman for the district, said at midday that except for a lot of clipped tree branches the move was problem-free. "Their attitude is we got plenty of time to get over there," he added.
The bridge arrived at the wetlands at 7:15 p.m., he said Wednesday night.
Kenney Brown, job superintendent for L.J. Webb, said the bridge would be set on the ground near the wetlands for some minor rust removal and repainting before it is put on its pedestals. Visitors can expect to use the bridge by spring.
Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@;journalstar.com.
Just follow the trail of green branches and leaves down narrow and dusty gravel roads.
"We did some tree work for the county," joked Darrell Ensor, a truck driver with Ensor Movers Inc. in Johnson.
But his job was no laughing matter. He and his crew had to make sure the huge bridge, loaded in one piece on a flatbed trailer, stayed on the road as the caravan of vehicles made its way to Lincoln along a mostly rural route through Otoe and Lancaster counties.
The Lincoln-based Lower Platte South Natural Resources District hired L.J. Webb Inc. of Geneva and Ensor Movers to recondition and relocate the bridge from Nebraska City to the 100-acre Lincoln Saline Wetland Nature Center, east of Capitol Beach Lake.
For the district, it is a way of providing a viewing platform and footbridge for a nature trail and preserving a piece of history.
The 126-year-old bridge is an early example of a King bowstring - one of the last surviving trusses of its type, according to the book "Spans in Time: A History of Nebraska Bridges."
Officially known at the Wyoming bridge, the 70-by-14-foot structure once spanned Squaw Creek north of Nebraska City. The bridge was one of three ordered by Otoe County in 1878 from King Iron Bridge Co. in Ohio. It may have gotten its name because it was near the former town and railroad stop of Wyoming.
Last November, the bridge was lifted from its original piers and placed in temporary storage nearby. Then it was stripped and primed gray before the move, which began at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Total cost of the project is estimated at $215,000. The district received a $135,000 federal grant through the Nebraska Department of Roads to help relocate the bridge. The district said salvaging the historic bridge was cheaper than building a new one.
Mike Mascoe, a spokesman for the district, said at midday that except for a lot of clipped tree branches the move was problem-free. "Their attitude is we got plenty of time to get over there," he added.
The bridge arrived at the wetlands at 7:15 p.m., he said Wednesday night.
Kenney Brown, job superintendent for L.J. Webb, said the bridge would be set on the ground near the wetlands for some minor rust removal and repainting before it is put on its pedestals. Visitors can expect to use the bridge by spring.
Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@;journalstar.com.
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