The Beginning .................
It was in
February of 1991 when Georgia Pacific Corporation of
Millinocket, Maine notified the Northern Timber
Cruisers Snowmobile Club that the Stacyville Road section
of I.T.S. 86 from the clubhouse to Whetstone Falls
Bridge would not be available for snowmobile travel for
the next 7 to 10 years due to logging operations in
that area.
The Northern
Timber Cruisers Snowmobile Club proceeded with a
special meeting to determine a solution for the
crossing of Millinocket Stream which would enable us to
reconnect with I.T.S. 86 and 83 thus allowing continued
travel to points north and east of Millinocket. A
committee was formed with Jim Barnes Sr. being the
project engineer and leader. Jim's son Terry also began
working very closely with his dad on this project. It
was determined that a bridge structure was needed to
provide crossing of the stream if snowmobiling was
going to continue in this area.
Starting in May of 1991, Jim and his son Terry began the permitting
and application process necessary to construct a bridge
structure across the Millinocket Stream. Upon approval
from Georgia Pacific and the necessary state agencies
to build this bridge, Terry approached an engineer from
a construction firm seeking information as to what size
the I-beam would be needed for the heart of the
project. Keeping in mind that not only snowmobiles
would be crossing this bridge, but also 8,000 lb.
Tucker Snow Cats used for trail grooming purchases. The
engineer feed into his computer the necessary
information to determine the stress factor and I beam
size that would be needed to cross the 126-foot span
across the stream. Also taking into consideration that
a center support was not being allowed by environmental
agencies, it was determined that a 36 inch I beam with
a stress rating of 150 lbs. per linear foot would be
needed.
Officials of the town of Millinocket were approached
with this information and the discussion of purchasing
the I-beams ensued. Recognizing the importance of
snowmobiling to the economy of this area, the town
agreed to purchase the I beams for the snowmobile club
at a cost of $6,200, which included delivery from
upstate New York. With this commitment from town
officials the project was underway.
Jim Barnes also
recognized the financial burden that the snowmobile
club would be taking on in constructing bridge. One day
Jim was voicing his concerns to David Moore about how
money could be raised for the purchase of some
materials for the bridge. Moore along with Brian Wiley,
the owners of Destination Sports, and a distributor for
Polaris Snowmobiles, contacted Polaris Industries
seeking if they could help support the project. Moore
and Wiley applied for a snowmobile under a special
program of Polaris Industries. The snowmobile would be
used for a fundraiser for the bridge project.
Polaris granted
the request and awarded the club a 1992 Polaris Indy
Sport 440. Club museum director Steve Campbell then got
the ball rolling. Seventy- five raffle tickets were
sold at a cost of $60.00 each which also included a
supper and dance. After expenses were cleared and the
sled paid for, a profit of $2,000 was realized for the
bridge structure.
Upon arrival of
the I beams on June 20th, a crane donated by a
construction company unloaded them and welders from the
club began cutting, beveling, and welding the 65-foot I
beams. Phil Grass, head welder for the project, spent
63 hours turning the four I-beams into the two main
support crossings. During the process of welding the I
beams, Jim and Terry with the help of Hoddie Gardner’s
surveying skills, began measuring, marking, and staking
the locations for the abutments on each side of the
stream bank. Gardner sighted a “line” across the stream
for placement of the batter boards and for the
exact placement of the bases. A full 8 hours was needed
to accomplish the surveying and batter board placement.
The next night vandals pulled up all the stakes and
markers. The process had to be repeated again. A day
later it was found that the vandals had struck once
more and the surveying had to be done all over once
more.
The next stage
was to dig the holes for the bases. Gerald Pelletier &
Sons as well as Billy Reed donated their backhoes to
dig the holes. The forms were constructed of 2 x 4’s
and plywood and rebar webbed in for structural
strength. Jim approached the Millinocket Foundry about
donating the base plates (4 pieces) which were
constructed of 1 inch steel plate 2 ft x 3 ft x 1 inch
thick. These plates were built to Jim’s specifications.
It took several days to assemble forms, rebar, and base
plates and to place them into the holes that were dug.
The night before the cement was to be poured Jim went
to the site to make sure everything was ready to go. He
found that the vandals had struck again. He spent four
hours reassembling the forms that late evening. Early
the next morning on August 10th, the cement
arrived and was poured into the base forms.
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