First Snow and Bridge

We got our first snow this week along with much colder temperatures. Our mild October is ending with a early winter feel. The snow was barely enough to stick to the ground, but reminds us the heavy stuff will be here soon. We have a lot of firewood to spilt and stack yet and Lee has been working hard to get it under cover. Unfortunately for her, I picked up a full-time job in Coudersport and haven't been able to help as much as usual. 

They put the guard rails up around the bridge, which helps define the road a lot better. They haven't fixed the wash out on the yard yet and not sure if they will get it done before winter. Hopefully, they will be back for the flashing signs and cones. I am thinking of turning them off as they aren't really needed now that the rails are up and sitting sort of all over the place. I don't really like the inner city flashing light effect in the woods at night. I feel like I am living next to an all night bar.

Going to check on the progress of the trailer destruction today and see how it has been going. A lot of people up for the weekend. The cold hasn't scared them off. The cat has been housebroken and is looking for a new home if any of you are interested. He is a great cat and very affectionate, considering he was feral to start. Lee is allergic to cats so now that the house is closed up it is getting harder for her with him inside. She is willing to suffer for him as she felt bad about him being outside all winter. But, the dogs would be happy to see him go as well. He likes to chase Leo's tail and pushes Speck off Lee's lap. He is not at all intimated by the dogs and seems to enjoy torturing them. So contact me if you can provide a good home for Felix.

Have a great Leetonia weekend, Mountain girl Paula, logging out.

It is quiet once again

Looking downstream from bridge

Looking upstream from bridge

Temporary crossing

Although, the bridge work isn't completed, they pulled out the horrible pump and the woods has returned to its natural silence, at least at night.  Over the weekend they made it so I could cross the bridge and save the ten mile detour. I imagine it will be the same again this weekend. They still have some finish work to do. Most of which is in my yard damage and driveway. The way the road looks right now people would tend to drive into my driveway easier than going down the road.  I am just happy not to hear the pump noise and breathe all the diesel fumes.

Unfortunately, it didn't happen fast enough to save me from bronchitis. I have been coughing for 4 weeks and finally had to break down and go to doctor Saturday. Hopefully, between the antibiotics and the better air quality my breathing will return to normal. I will post again before the weekend to let you know if they keep it open, but so far it is only closed while they are working from 8 am to about 3 pm. I feel like I have my own bomb shelter as big as the bridge turned out. I think it will be here long after everything else is gone.

On the weird news side, last week there was an unfortunate incident on the other side of the mountains near Marshlands where Leetonia Rd. connects to Elk Run Rd. It seems the Gaines Township road guys were working when a pipeline worker passed the grader doing what they said was 70 mph. The grader came to a complete stop for fear of a collision and the other worker, Randy, attempted to stop the vehicle and take the driver's information. This is were everything went wrong. The driver didn't want to give him the information so Randy punched him and the guy took off dragging Randy and leaving him in a broken, bloody pile on the road.

Shortly after mobile alerts blanketed the area with a description of the vehicle and its two occupants. They found the guy who hit Randy.  He claims he feared for his life, however this doesn't explain why he didn't stop after nearly killing Randy or call after he got a distance away. Randy had severe face damage and several broken bones. He was air-lifted out, but from what I understand is now at home recovering. I am not sure how this will play out in court. The hit and run person has no excuses, but not sure Randy will come off totally clean for punching him. This just shows you that using force to get justice can get you into trouble. Never a dull moment even in the middle of the woods.  Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Bridge parts are set over Buck Run

First Piece

Second Piece

3rd Piece

4th Piece

5th Piece

6th Piece

7th Piece

End caps down creek side

End Caps up creek side

After a very long day seven individual box shaped pieces where dropped down to the footings for the bridge. Four long cables went completely through each of the sections and they were tightened together. Then the last four pieces which will funnel the water toward the hole were bolted on. All pieced were also bolted to the footing.

They will fill about four foot of the depth of the hole with stone to make the level of the bottom of the hole the same as the creek. There are some more retaining walls to be poured and much back filling to be done. They are saying another 3 weeks of work before the bridge is passable. So Labor Day weekend will be a big drive around if you are coming up to camp. They are promising to kill the pumps as soon as the bridge is full of rock. I am expecting that to be next week sometime. That is when I will feel a big relief from all the noise. Maneuvering all the equipment in our front yard today was quite a feat and amazingly enough no one got stuck. I am still suffering from a bad head cold aggravated by all the dust so this project can't be done soon enough.
On a much weirder note, while walking Leo and Speck yesterday morning up the road past Hooke's cabin, I heard a distressed barking sound. At first I thought it was Leo who had wandered down by the camp. It was the kind of bark he does when he sees something and is confronting it. Speck was next to me and the bark was too low for him or for a coyote. The next sound I heard sent a chill up my spine. The dog let out a scream of pain. Now I was worried, had Leo grabbed a porcupine or worse yet, had something grabbed him. I called Leo and headed towards the sound, then I noticed Leo coming toward me. My relief was short-lived when I again heard the barking alert followed by another scream of pain. Now I imagined someone's lost dog caught in a trap or being attacked by another animal.  My rescue self kicked in and I followed the sound up Misner Trail keeping my own dogs close in case there was a predator up ahead. Sound is very illusive in the mountains and trying to hone in on the location of the animal was difficult. The sounds repeated four times and just when I thought I might be able to figure out where it was it stopped. I looked as far as I had could but without anymore sounds it was useless. I went home upset that I couldn't help the animal and wondering what caused the incident.
I told Lee about it when I got home and she said, "What if that had been a Mountain Lion?"
The thought had crossed my mind while looking and I guess if I had seen one, I would have been in a bit of trouble. So if any of you hear strange noises over Labor Day in Leetonia let me know. I know Dee on the other side of mountain heard what he thought was a large cat several weeks ago, so it is always possible.
 Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Crane visits Mountain Girls

Today the large Crane that will be putting the bridge together on the footing was delivered. There were several counter weights which had to be brought down and attached to the crane. A tractor trailer delivered each set of weights. The problem was there is no place to turn around, which meant they would have to back down the mountain two miles or come up with another solution. The video shows the other solution. If you are getting this in email you will have to go directly to this blog to see the video. 

The crane is HUGE it dwarfs our house and I think could easily lift the entire house and place it in another location. Too bad I don't have another foundation to move it to my dream location on top the mountain. Tomorrow the road will be closed from the pipeline down and they will be moving the eight pieces of bridge down to the location in front of the house. According to them this should only take one day. I am not sure it will be that fast since it took quite some time just to set up the crane. I am betting the bridge parts will be in tomorrow but the crane won't be out until Friday. 

I am going to be searching for some of the old bridge pictures before the culvert pipe which  lasted 40 years to show you the size of bridge they are putting over this small stream. It is pretty amazing how we have money for some things and not others. I am certainly being entertained by the process, except for the noise and dust. I will definitely have some pictures of the parts being placed into the stream. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Bridge Progress

2nd footing forms

pump truck in my driveway

Both Footings complete

As you can tell from the pictures they are still working on the bridge. They just completed the second footer and will be setting the bridge boxes on the 29th of August. We will have no ability to come and go for most of that day as the road going out will be completely shut down in order to get the crane and bridge parts back to the site. If everything fits the positioning of the bridge box should go relatively quickly. Then it is my understanding they will be forming retaining walls for the entrance and exits of the stream, which will hold the bank in place. The final bridge surface will be asphalt. 

I think my request to make the entire road asphalt fell on deaf ears, but a girl can try. Both Lee and I have had upper respiratory problems during this entire process and two of my dogs are coughing. I think all the dust, and exhaust fumes are affecting our ability to breath and get over our sore throats and head congestion. Although, I am pretty sure they won't be willing to take any responsibility for our suffering. If mine isn't better by Monday, I am going to the doctor to get it checked out. I am not counting on the road being open before Labor Day weekend so maintain alternate routes around us.

After doing construction for years I have never had to endure it 24/7 and I will admit it is wearing on me. Too bad the stream crossed the road so close to our house. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Bridge Work Progress

Forms during concrete pour.

In the picture you can see there is one woman on the crew helping pour concrete. They walked above the forms and guided the concrete in from the pump, while she was using the vibrator to get all the air pockets out of the concrete. Unfortunately, they forgot one safety issue when working with rebar pointing upwards...Always put safety caps on. I guess not too long after my pictures the woman slipped and rebar went into her knee. A bar also headed towards her neck, but she was fortunate enough to stop before that one entered.  Construction work seems so benign until someone gets hurt and it always happens fast. The problem is help isn't too fast in coming out here if you are seriously hurt. Hopefully, this will be their one and only accident. I am sure I will see some caps on the next pour.

The noise is continuing to bombard us and the end of this project won't be soon enough. Remember to go around. You aren't coming through this site in any sort of way other than walking. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Bridge mess continues..

Excavator above hole

Excavator in hole

1/2 Bridge footing forms

Rebar for footing

Well, I awoke to the sound of lightening, thunder and a heavy rain this morning. One hit so close I thought it might have gotten some of the equipment outside the house. It rained pretty hard for about an hour and shut down the bridge work until about 9am. The rain caused them to turn the pump up so it is making more noise tonight along with a smaller pump and generator they have running. They dropped the forms down into the hole and will probably be leveling them up, anchoring them and putting the rebar in tomorrow. I don't know if they will pour the footing tomorrow or Monday. 

As you can see from the second picture the hole is big enough to swallow the large excavator and anything else foolish enough to drive into it. Since our drive is right at the bridge they have to leave a space big enough for us to get around the bridge out sign. I hope no one else drives around thinking they can get through in middle of night. They do park the excavator across the hole, but there is a space to the right someone could plunge in. If they do they won't be driving out and I am sure we will be the first to know. 

They are making quite a muddy mess of the driveway and yard and the rain helped speed up the mess making progress. I think I will be listening to music tonight to fall asleep as the sound of pumps running isn't too soothing. Tomorrow I will be posting something other than bridge progress. I am hoping to get some pictures of some small colorful birds, which have shown up before the bridge work scares them off. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off and trying to get some rest.

The digging continues

Hole looking away from house

Hole looking toward house

Well all the pipes are out from under the road and there is nothing but a very large hole. I noticed an old piece of wood that is quite large directly in line with my mailbox and I am thinking that might have been part of the bridge retaining wall before the culvert pipes. That bridge was a cool little wood bridge with rails you could look over and fish from. The culvert pipe replacement was functional but much uglier. I think they did that somewhere in the mid 60's. Getting to Leetonia other than walking which is a mile and a half for me is now 11 miles away. The block is quite large to go around. The best route around still remains Francis-Leetonia to Cushman not Cedar Mt Rd. Cedar Mt Rd. has pipeline trucks running to the top Ridge Rd and over to Wilson Pt and meeting them is almost a near-death experience.

The sound of the pump they are using to divert the water in Buck Run is very annoying. I had to wear ear plugs last night just to get to sleep. Two more months of this is not a happy thought. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Bye Bye Bridge

Widening road with dug out dirt

Dam upstream

Creek Pump

Pipe from pump to other side of bridge work

Seep bag

old culverts

Access to creek for machinery

Hole across road

Sneaking by our house on the road is officially over. There is a large hole where the pipes once crossed the road. Working in such a small area is a tricky operation. First they had to cut accesses for the pump to divert the stream. Then they cut a work road down to stream and dammed up the stream. Everything gets covered with straw and silt bag are put up to stop any erosion into the stream. They put another pipe across the road downstream from the work to pump the water up and over to a large bag. This bag fills and gradually seeps the water back to the stream.  Hopefully, we won't get any big storms during this project, because I don't think there system would handle some of the water I have seen come down Buck Run.

I plan on taking progress pictures of the work on a regular basis to show you all where it is at. I am expecting 2 months of the loss of my road. The worse part is the noise not only while they are working but the pump runs constantly and it is very loud. We aren't used to having so much noise so close. I turned the fan on last night to try and drown out some of the pump noise it worked a little. 

They are also using the dirt they dig out to make the road wider and a little straighter shot over the bridge. It seems we might have a very large parking area in front of the house based on how wide it looks already. Well, that is the news that affects us. Small in the scope of the world, but huge change in the once quiet middle of the woods. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.