Bridge

September 06, 2023

I fired up the battery and took the convertible out for a spin yesterday.  I have a bad habit of letting the car sit too long and the battery goes dead.  When the battery is completely gone it makes it impossible to turn the ignition key.  I called my mobile service the first two times this happened, but then learned what the issue was.  Now I know it is a matter of hooking up the jumper cables and allowing the battery to charge for a while.  Once it has enough juice the key will turn and (hopefully) the engine will fire up.  I let the car run for a bit longer and then persuaded Melissa to take a ride.  The first place we went was to the car wash and then decided to take a leisurely route back to our house.  We were almost home when Melissa said she wanted to see how much water was in the city reservoir.  As we neared the reservoir, we saw a sign specifying “local traffic only”.  I drove on wondering if we would get all the way to the water.  We did make it to the turnoff, but the road going beyond had another sign saying, “bridge out ahead”.  I also noticed a foot bridge had been installed across the inlet next to the dock.

When I looked online, I found the bridge had been dedicated June 10 in honor of Dr. Thomas R. Cuthbert Jr. and Ernestine Strang Cuthbert, who lived in lived in a home overlooking Greenwood Lake.  Cuthbert Bridge was built by the Virginia Bridge and Iron Co. in Roanoke, Virginia in 1931 to span across Terre Rouge Creek northeast of Hope, Arkansas.  The bridge was decommissioned in March 2009 and donated by the Arkansas Department of Transportation to the city of Greenwood.  The bridge was kept in storage, “awaiting a worthy cause and funding” until 2022, when a vision for its use was made possible by the dedication of donors.  The old car bridge is now used for foot or bicycle traffic by people who want to hike across or fish off it at the lake.  The bridge is open to the public.

The bridge was not the only new addition to the reservoir.  The trail that leads around the lake had been widened and a walkway built to traverse from the parking lot to the bridge.  The final addition was a large, elevated fishing pier that had been constructed next to the boat ramp.  I had noted two years ago how someone had purposefully rammed the stone wall/seating bench and broken off several pieces of stone.  Now there are three steel barriers set to keep people from “accidentally” running into the wall.  The city had cut through the wall and patio themselves to allow the access walkway to the bridge.  That meant the rock wall and patio that had been installed two summers ago was cut out to allow access. 

Thoughts:  The walkway leading to the bridge reminded me of how many times I have watched the construction/reconstruction that goes on with new streets in residential areas.  The crews never seem to be able to coordinate between the street and infrastructure.  The concrete will be poured, and the curbs formed, only to be torn out two weeks later when the storm drains and sidewalks are installed.  I understand how different contractors are on different schedules, but it seems like redundant work.  This is even worse when a highway is paved and then workers will cut out a section of the road to place new infrastructure, leaving a blemish in the newly paved highway.  Perhaps this is only my rant, but it speaks to a lack of communication in other areas of life as well.  If we do not talk to each other, there is no possibility for communication.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.