Volunteer effort completes bike path bridge repairs

Photo Courtesy of Ellen Twiname Four volunteers place one of the last planks on the bike path bridge off Alyeska Highway in Girdwood. The volunteers from left to right are: Brian Burnett, Rob Hammel, John Gallup, and Larry Daniels. About 40 volunteers participated in the project to re-plank the bridge, working two weekends in May. Gallup, the project director, said the boards were in such bad condition that they were literally falling apart in their hands as they lifted them out. The Municipality contributed funds for the project through a grant from the Parks and Recreation department.

By John Gallup
Special to the Turnagain Times

At about 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 9, the “Silver Spike” was driven into the last plank on the bike path bridge deck, culminating about 18 months of planning and three days of hard work by a dedicated group of volunteers.
We had known the bridge deck was in pretty bad shape, but we were unprepared for the experience of having many of the boards fall apart in our hands as we lifted them out. It was definitely time to fix it. It had partially collapsed in two places and was pretty spongy everywhere else.
This project joins a long list of volunteer-built parks facilities in Girdwood, including the hand tram, many of our hiking and skiing trails, and the playground, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the many people and agencies who helped us get it done. Working beside these wonderful volunteers was one of the finest experiences I’ve ever had.
Alison Rein and the Trails Committee gave me the idea in the summer of 2007 that we could perhaps do this job ourselves and make a small grant stretch far enough to at least get the bridge deck replaced.
From the Municipality of Anchorage, Lori Schanke of the Department of Parks and Recreation and Isobel Roy from Project Management and Engineering coordinated all of the permitting and purchasing of materials, Mike McGauley of Facilities Maintenance coordinated all of our traffic signs and put in two plus days of hard labor himself as a volunteer. Bruce Hopper of USKH was the engineer, and Brandon Frazier of the ARR advised on safety from the railroad’s standpoint.
Deb and Keith Essex of Alpine Air gave us a place to store the materials when they arrived mid-winter, and supplied electricity so we could prep the wood for installation. Jim Braham, Tom Yeager, Ron Burson, Lewis Leonard, Brent Hoffman, Andy Wallace, Seth Crosby, and Betsy Burnett helped prep the wood—each 100 pound timber had to be moved by hand to be worked on, and there were 342 of them.
I bounced every idea off Larry Daniels at least twice, and the work plan was always better and safer for his advice. He was also on site for the entire job, from start to finish. Alyeska Resort lent us tools, the generator, and vehicles, and the shop boys fabricated unique tools, which were indispensable. Both Paul Crews and Bob Messing brought great ideas to the job, which made it a much safer, faster and easier process.
Swinging tools, toting timbers, and making sawdust on the job were the following dedicated souls, who gave up great spring days for Girdwood. In no particular order, they were: Jim Braham, Ron Burson, Larry Daniels, Brent Hoffman, Lewis Leonard, Paul Crews, Bob Messing, Brian Burnett, Jerry Fox, Laz Lazarus., Lou Theiss, Ralph Brodin, Ellen Twiname, Rob Hammel, Eben Stone, Mike Wilson, John Samuelson, Bob Dugan, Gabrielle Markel, Gabrielle Hoessle, Rich Parry, William Perry, Oskar Johansson-Theiss, Hank Hosford, Dylan Fox, Spencer Jonas, Tucker Jonas, Alex Graham, Paxon Messing, Keegan Messing, Tommy O’Malley, Glenda Kerry, Charlie Tryck, Frans Weits, Riker Durtschi, Jon Wenger, and Doug from the ARR who’s job was to coordinate our work with the trains, but who put in a long shift himself hauling timbers. The USFS lent us their tool trailer, and Carl Skustad spotted it for us on the site and retrieved it when we were done.
Feeding this crew fell to Norman Starkey, Jonnie Lazarus, and Carolyn Brodin, who coordinated food donated by The Bake Shop, Chair 5, and Coast Pizza. Denise Gallup, Molly Hickox, Barb Crews and Alison Rein provided welcome snacks, and Ed Dupre showed up with the beer at the end.
Jonnie Lazarus, our Girdwood Parks and Recreation person, worked tirelessly ironing out many details leading up to and during construction.
Once again Girdwood has reminded me why I live here - people from diverse backgrounds working together for the good of the community. There are many more worthwhile projects out there, like the skate park and the soccer field, and I know Girdwood will make them happen.
Thanks again to everyone.

John Gallup is a Girdwood Board of Supervisor and the GBOS Parks and Recreation Supervisor.