The Peru Gazette

By Adele Douglas

The crane was late and the weather threatening but despite those challenges Fuller Excavating did a great job of placing the bridge over the Little Ausable River, as part of the Town’s Little Ausable River Trail project. Watching the whole operation unfold, from the set-up of the crane, to the maneuvering of the large trucks transporting the bridge, to the pinpoint placement of the structure was a lesson in organization, efficiency and precision.

The project is wrapping-up nicely. The trail should be paved starting the week of August 18^th and will hopefully open to the public in mid-September. Stay tuned!

Setting up the crane at the site of the bridge crossing. From CCS of Vermont, the crane can lift 275 tons.

The second of two 50’ bridge sections is raised off the truck that brought them up from Pioneer Bridges in Alabama.

The two bridge sections have been bolted together and make their way into place as the bolts on the abutment are cleaned-up. The bridge weighs about 19 tons.

Almost there.

Operations Manager Doug Hesseltine asks the crane operator to lower the bridge. It’s a perfect fit onto the bolts of the abutment.

On the bridge Site Superintendent Noah Rounds, Foreman Alan Fuller and Doug Hesseltine prepare to remove the crane cables. From start (when the crane arrived) to finish the placement of the bridge took 5 hours.

The boardwalk approach over wetlands to the bridge from the Route 22 side of the trail.