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That Mineral King Bridge!

Will the Mineral King Bridge ever be finished? Will the saga ever end?

Retired Road Guy had the camera with him while his former road crew worked on the bridge. Rumor has it that he joined them for an hour or so, wearing shorts instead of green pants and his signature straw hat instead of a marshmallow head. Rumor also has it that he actually enjoyed the work!

2 guys goofing off while working on the Mineral King Bridge photo by Jana Botkin
How could he not have fun working with a couple of marshmallow-headed clowns such as these?

 

Kirk operating a big yellow machine in Mineral King photo by Michael Botkin
This is a HUGE yellow machine. It doesn’t have a steering wheel. The road crew isn’t very fond of it. That may be why Supervisor Kirk is at the helm. Is it a helm? What’s a helm?
Huge yellow machine on Mineral King Bridge photo by Michael Botkin
I am not kidding when I say this is a HUGE yellow machine. Good thing the bridge was replaced with this strong new one!

 

asphalt overlay on approach in Mineral King, photo by Michael Botkin
One side almost completed, one more to go.

 

equipment on Mineral King Bridge, photo by Michael Botkin
See those guys clustered around the smaller machine? It broke. Guess the other side will have to wait.

Announcement:

Tomorrow, Saturday, July 21 is the annual Mineral King Preservation Society Picnic in the Park. It takes place at noon in front of one of the cabins at the end of the road. (Look for the signs, follow the people.) Bring your own lunch and chairs, lemonade will be provided. The program has 2 parts – one by Steve Jones who will tell of his memories backpacking and camping in Mineral King. (Never met him before, don’t know a thing!)

The second part will be Retired Road Guy and the California Artist discussing the Mineral King Bridge project. They will be asking the crowd to share their memories of the bridge, and rumor has it that they may even tell what they REALLY think about it.

Guess you’ll have to attend to learn the rest of the story!

Do you have any Mineral King Bridge memories you’d like to share with the blog readers or me?

2 Comments

  1. The marshmallow heads ruined a perfectly good road by laying down new asphalt! Do they realize just how long it will take to achieve that well worn look of pot holes, uneven levels, falling apart granular surface? How dare they; I am so disappointed – 🙂

    • Not to worry, Diane, there are many many worn places for knee-skinning left!

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