Soon, an impressive addition to Kelly Park in Morrison, IL, will be put into the hands of City employees for final site work. An attractive new bridge, at the east end of the park, spans a drainage culvert, carrying people along the popular walking path.
Some of the students who worked to build the bridge gathered Thursday morning, May 18, 2017, for a photograph.
First to arrive were a dozen of the more-than-30 who crafted the structure’s metal work, at Whiteside Area Career Center, 1608 5th Avenue, Sterling, IL. These boys “put on the I beam brackets [under the wood decking], drilled bolt holes, and welded.”
Welding and Manufacturing Instructor Steve Bierdman brought his students, from 8:00 to 9:45 a.m. He is shown sawing an angle iron bar from one of eight decorative panels. These will overlay the wood slats, on the outer sides of the bridge panels.
The collaborative project–initiated by local resident and Whiteside County Highway Department Engineer Russ Renner–was made possible by
- Morrison Community Unit School District #6
- Whiteside Area Career Center
- Whiteside County Highway Department
- City of Morrison
- private parties and groups
- regional funding partners (Friends of the Parks; ISPE engineering association; Morrison Area Community Foundation; Morrison Rotary.)
City of Morrison employees removed the old wooden bridge in late 2016. Click here to read about the March 2017 site preparation. Ironically, Brad Bush–a Whiteside County Highway Department employee–helped prepare the site. He operated the backhoe during excavation. It was his Morrison High School Future Farmers of America (FFA) class that built the original bridge.
Renner visited Morrison High School for weekly, one-hour sessions in Gregg Dolan‘s Physics class, where he taught bridge construction principles. Students drafted three designs and submitted them to the City Council. Aldermen liked parts of all three, so the students incorporated their preferences into the final plan. The class installed their bridge on Friday, May 12.
About 9:00, MHS students arrived at Kelly Park. Left-to-right are Project Manager Renner, Zach Osborn, Maya Zinke, Michaela McNeese, Courtney Stearns, Isaac Damhoff, Kaleb McCoy, Allison Houldson, Shayna VanDerLeest, Katelyn Barsema, Allyssa Renner, Laura Zuidema, Dylan Bulloch, and MHS Physics Instructor Dolan.
