From Chick Huettel
According to one of the folks who is with management in building the new U.S. 331 bridge, it might be finished in a year, however, the 331 bridge has a rather dubious and stubborn heritage. Long ago I wrote about some of the incidents. I really think they have done a knock-out job and one can only wonder how in the world they can even start on such a project?
Computers make things “somewhat” easier for bridge designers, engineers, but for me, I lose my temper and head to the confessional weekly because of my computer. My children and grandbabies all complain that I still retain the “Middle Ages” syndrome.
But back to the bridge, our first bay bridge was built in the 1930s, and withstood storms and bay flooding. It wasn’t a high bridge and afforded the opportunity to fish from the ramparts. Even better it was a drawbridge. Those types of structures are fast disappearing and ours was wonderful to watch when it arose. The big problem was in 1974 when a barge struck the supports that operated the mechanism and then was followed by the collapse of the drawbridge operator’s shack. W.C. McCarter went over with the housing and was killed. A ferry was placed to transport the vehicles that only held maybe six or eight cars and if you missed getting on you had to wait an hour for it to return. Tempers were tender in those days because this was the second time the drawbridge had been hit.
Then the second death came according to my friend who lived here for eons. A snowbird who discovered the quiet of our bridge area decided to fish from the north end picnic tables while his wife prepared the lunch. Evidently he mistook our bay trout for the northern stream trout and waded out in a swimming suit with his rod and bait. Catching a few trout he hooked his prizes onto his fish stringer which he then attached to a waist belt. The fish bled and we have Bull sharks in the bay and they like fish too. The blood did its job; the snagged tooth predator attacked the stringer cutting a vital artery in the snowbird’s leg. So much for stringers attached to one’s body.
A new two-lane bridge was built and out went the drawbridge.
Next came my dear friend who decided that life was very difficult and strapped on his underwater diving weights and swan-dived off the new structure. I still miss him. A few more deadly crashes occurred.
Then more years went by, and another snowbird was sitting on the rocks and hooked a large redfish. Telling his wife he was going the clean the giant right then and there, he slit open the fish to clean out its interior. His wife screamed when out popped in the air a single finger. Yes, the sheriff did a search of the area but to no avail. Lord knows where the finger came from, hospitals and clinics were checked, but no one reported an emergency.
The bridge was obtaining its own ominous personality. Then came the unhinging of a trailer and a truck smashed into it and up and over the edge the rig, flying wheels, bits and pieces went into the drink racking up another statistic.
The worst was not over, a mercy helicopter ambulance carrying a crew was flying just over the bridge during wind storm and plunged next to the bridge taking all aboard as the ultimate sacrifice. Did the closeness of the bridge cause some type of wind vortex?
So here we are…….a new bridge….me thinks better times are assuredly ahead, a lot of people have paid more than tax money for its completion.