Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.metro From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Volunteers work at repairing covered bridge in Thurmont Date: Mon, 2 Nov 92 15:45:13 EST Message-ID: \SE B;METROPOLITAN \SS (WS) \HD Volunteers work at repairing covered bridge in Thurmont \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT THURMONT, Md. THURMONT, Md. (AP) - One day last spring a truck too tall for the Roddy Road covered bridge barreled across the historic planks and splintered its heavy beams. The destructive act stole the backdrop from Dean Fitzgerald's childhood memories. "I grew up just about a quarter-mile from here," Mr. Fitzgerald, 27, said, standing inside the bridge that crosses a crystal-clear Owens Creek in Frederick County. "We used to come down here and swim. We'd build a dam to deepen the water. When I was 18, I still used to stop and swim there." Mr. Fitzgerald and about 20 other volunteers began making repairs this weekend on the barn-red bridge, which is on the National Register of Historical Places. It has been closed to traffic since it was damaged by a still unknown driver. "That's 150 years old," Mr. Fitzgerald said, kicking a 12-by-12-inch bridge beam with his boot. Despite tales of bridge trolls, Mr. Fitzgerald admitted he sought solitude at the bridge a few times when he ran away from home at the age of 6 or 7. "I was going to build a house along the creek," he said with a boyish smile. "It was a great place to get away." But the volunteer bridge rebuilding effort is more than a bid to save the landscape of Mr. Fitzgerald's early stomping grounds. He is hoping that a recently formed Frederick County Covered Bridge Preservation Fund at Woodsboro Savings Bank will ensure the future of the county's three covered spans, including the Loy's Station bridge in Rocky Ridge that was destroyed by arson in June 1991. "The purpose is to provide financial aid to preserve and restore the bridges for future generations - my kids and my grandchildren," said Mr. Fitzgerald, who hopes the Frederick County effort will spur Marylanders to protect at least nine other covered bridges across the state. "The endowment would be for catastrophes - an arson or flood or vandalism." He hopes that reopening the bridge also will prevent the structure from becoming an attraction for vandals. "The neighbors and myself don't want to close it and see it as a historic tourist attraction," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "If it's left sitting here, it could become a party house for kids, and that subjects it to vandalism and graffiti." Also, by offering to rebuild the bridge themselves, the volunteers hope the county won't build a new bridge upstream that could encourage residential or commercial development. Frederick County Engineer Al Hudak is overseeing the rebuilding project with the Maryland Historical Trust, which owns a 40-foot easement along the length of the bridge. Without the volunteers, it could have taken the county years to get the bridge reopened, county spokeswoman Ann Harriman said. Michael Beard, risk manager for the county, said the county is expecting to receive $5,500 from an insurance claim submitted for the bridge damage. That money will be placed in the county's insurance recovery fund. The commissioners will use the money for any capital project in the county, quite possibly some $90,000 in rehabilitation work that was proposed for the bridge before the accident, Mr. Beard said. The Roddy bridge, built in the mid-1800s, was damaged in late March. The Frederick County Sheriff's Department said a truck bolted through it, ripping three heavy crossbeams in its way. The vehicle damaged the crossbeams, six wooden braces, a corner post and gabled siding enclosed by the sloping ends of the roof. "I don't believe anybody would have broke all three of these beams and not know what they were doing," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "I don't think anybody would break all those beams out of there accidentally. It takes a lot of force to do that." Workers began cutting and milling timber for the project in early October. The timber was donated by Mr. Fitzgerald's father, Mike, who owns wooded land near Emmitsburg. The framing work is being donated by David and Glenn James, who own Craftwright Timber Frame Builders. "I just wish they'd find the guy who did it," said Clive Rowley, who has had to take a five- to 10-minute detour around the damaged bridge to get to his child's elementary school. "It's a historic landmark and it should be preserved as long as possible. That old bridge could tell you some stories." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM