Mineral King Bridge In Paint

We all know that procrastination is not a virtue. However, I’d like to present a few benefits to procrastination:

1. Sometimes the problem fixes itself.

2. Sometimes new knowledge or skill is acquired so the difficulty diminishes.

3. Sometimes the problem becomes a moot point.

4. Sometimes someone else takes care of it.

I’ve been contemplating an oil painting of the Mineral King bridge for several weeks. In the meantime, I’ve made progress on my Huge (yet unrevealed) Project, finished a pencil commission, assembled a new spinning card rack, finished some other pencil drawings, prepared for the upcoming student art show, decided on and ordered covers for my display screens, completed the application for the next Studio Tour, and many other things that might bore you right off this page.

Finally, I’ve run out of excuses. The real reason for procrastination in this case is a little embarrassing: when I’ve gone several weeks without painting, I get a little fearful that I won’t be able to remember how to paint.

Then, when I begin a new painting, my fears appear to be confirmed. Sigh.

p.s. Don’t worry, CL, it WILL get better. They always do!

Mineral King Bridge, Final Chapter!

On October 20, there was an all employee meeting for Sequoia and Kings Canyon people. The facility manager for roads and trails (Hi JT!) said this: (no quotes because I wasn’t actually there, being a California artist rather than a federal worker) Of all the numerous Federal Highways projects ongoing in the Park, the Mineral King bridge is the only one completed on  schedule.

In addition, it is the only one done by park employees, which come at a fraction of the cost of an outside contractor. YEA, MARSHMALLOW HEADS! Nice work, gentlemen!

These On Schedule Park Guys are attaching the running boards. This is where the tires will go, not on the beautiful boards shown in the last post. However, I suspect that big yellow machine put its filthy tires on those boards. Hmmmph!

This sweet little red machine can’t reach the running boards! No more little footbridge for you, Red Quad.

Wave to the nice man in the parade, boys and girls! It is always good when the boss is happy.

Sorta weird, no railing yet.

It is very pretty. It is very narrow. It is driveable. It isn’t completely finished. It has to wait until spring and summer for the total totality. Totally. The end.

Mineral King Bridge, Part 16

These fine gentlemen are using our extension ladder and Kirk’s waders and Michael’s waders to secure bolts underneath the bridge. Good thing Michael was around with his stuff to keep our hardworking bridge builders in the tools they needed! And look – those are Ryan’s waderless legs!

This is just cute.

WHOA! This bridge is BEAUTIFUL. Okay, off with your shoes – no tracking dirt onto this gorgeous piece of work.

I mean, come on! Are you really telling me people will be going across this with filthy tires and dirty hiking boots? I can’t bear it. I simply cannot.

Mineral King Bridge, Part 15

You may recall that the estimated date to have the bridge be passable is October 20. That’s today! When we last left our Marshmallow Heads, they had successfully placed all 4 stringers. So, what is going on in this photo??

Give up? The pre-drilled holes on the stringers did not line up with the holes on the horizontal cross pieces. Oh man, I hate it when that happens.

This is just a scenery shot. I am a California artist, and I appreciate the scenery of my mountains. (Just sayin’, in case Mr. Google has started to forget me.)

Lookie! The first deck slab is in place! (See the floating Marshmallow??)

This hardworking Marshmallow Head is using a rock bar to set the carriage bolt into the slab.

Here comes another one. These units weigh “several hundred pounds”, so a Big Yellow Machine places it with the help of a few good men and one who isn’t wearing proper head garb.

More scenery, because it is just so beautiful.

Guess this will have to be continued tomorrow, because I like the power of keeping you all hanging. Sometimes I am just mean like that. Not only am I mean, sometimes I can’t count either. This problem shows up from time to time in my knitting, and occasionally in my checkbook. In this blog, you may have noticed, as Craig did, that there is no Part 10 in this series.

Mineral King Bridge, Part 14

Before we begin our bridge update, have a look at view as of Saturday, October 15. The fall color is a little slow to appear this year. If you have the patience to follow this posting all the way to the end, you will be rewarded with 2 more scenery views. (or just scroll on ahead if you simply cannot control yourself!)

All four stringers are in place. Here you can see them from either end. It is fun to walk across the creek on the bridge. Not that i would know or would even dream of crawling under the bright pink caution tape. I did witness one knitter walk across the creek on an I-beam. Yes, I said, “knitter”. She is reported to have completed 5 stitches while crossing the creek.

Remember the blog entry about the cracked and drooping abutment? Here it is again, to reinforce the understanding that a new bridge was in order.

Michael, my husband who drives big yellow machines and wears green pants and a marshmallow head hardhat during the work week, is much more comfortable in his regular clothes and straw hat. Nevertheless, he is always ready to explain the work project, regardless of his attire. Here he is with our cabin friend, Glen. (Glen is the one who takes care of the Mineral King webcam.)

Thank you for your attention to the current lesson on bridge building. Here is your reward:

Mineral King Bridge, Part 13

The telehandler is swinging I-beam #2 into place. The chain is perfectly balanced, so the 3000 pounds move as easily as 3. Maybe not, but you get what I mean, right?

The marshmallow head is there to place it exactly where it belongs.

The lower shelf is the old abutment. The newer abutment is 1 foot higher.

This is the Work Leader, Ned. His marshmallow is toasted so you can distinguish him from the rest of the crew.

Are you ogling the scenery again? I don’t blame you!

2 down, 2 to go! Nice work, Marshmallow Heads!

Mineral King Bridge, Part 12

My favorite marshmallow head arrived just in time to take this beautiful photo of the last third of the bridge. (Lest you think he was lollygagging around, he was hauling up a load of stuff.) These marshmallow heads are rigging the last section to the telehandler (not to be confused with a teleprompter).

See that big yellow machine? It is the telehandler, a forklift on a telescoping arm with a 45′ reach. (Oh yeah, call me Mrs. Marshmallow Head – I get this stuff!)

Cool, hunh?

Those stringers don’t look half bad from this angle. I refer you back to Mineral King Bridge, Part 7. If the really crumbly parts are sawed off, the rest of the stringers will probably find a second life somewhere else in The Park. And, oops, did we drop an I-beam?

The pieces are stacking up. My favorite marshmallow head will haul them down the hill on a trailer. That isn’t really a load I want to meet on the Mineral King Road.

There goes the I-beam. That was just kind of stuffed underneath the bridge when Federal Highways came through in 2009 and had a cow. Those concrete pads are part of that era, and have to be cleaned out. My favorite marshmallow head donned his waders and spent some time in the stream arranging chains around them. Since he was the photographer and it is my camera and I don’t really want it to get wet, you don’t get to see that part. Besides, he is sort of modest and doesn’t want to show off too much.

Mineral King Bridge, Part 11

Have you just been dying to know what is going on with the bridge? There were 2 snow/rain days, a fake holiday, and then Michael took these photos for us on Tuesday, October 11. Since I wasn’t actually present, my comments will have to be taken with a grain of salt or two.

Abutments completed, bridge still fairly intact, marshmallow heads making plans for bridge removal. (If you are squeamish about the thought of this bridge getting hauled away, you might want to change channels now.)

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!! That man is using a chainsaw on the deck boards!

He really is! See the swept off portions? See the cut marks running the length of the bridge? Holy cow! So much for the deck boards getting salvaged and removed. . . there must have been at least ten different requests for them. They really weren’t in that good of shape.

Bye-bye, railing that has known countless butts.

Sniff.

The chainsaw massacre continues. Sometimes a man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.

Now what are they going to do with the pieces?

‘Scuse me, please. This California artists needs to go lie down for a bit.

Mineral King Bridge, Part 9

Yesterday I left you all with the cliff-hanger of how to extract the heavy Wacker out of the abutment area, which is well below the height of the road. I hope it wasn’t too suspenseful for you. If it robbed you of a night’s sleep, please forgive me. Here is your answer:

The claw thingie of the big yellow machine just lifted the little yellow machine right out of the hole! Isn’t that the coolest operation?? These marshmallow-headed, shovel leaning road guys are brilliant, innovative and efficient! There is no need for you to question the wise use of your tax dollars when it comes to this road crew.

After the gravel is tamped smooth, a layer of plastic meshy fabric goes down again. There are many layers of gravel and this plastic stuff. HEY! I said, “plastic stuff” and you are ogling the views again! Stop that – I’m trying to explain the bridge project to you.

Mineral King Bridge, Part 8

Our marshmallow-headed, shovel-leaning road guys are hard at work, spreading the gravel as they build up the abutment on the closer side of the bridge. But wait, there’s more!

After they spread the gravel, it has to be tamped. “Tamped?” I can hear you asking. Yeppers. There is a machine for that.  It is yellow, of course.

It is a heavy machine with a flat surface and it sort of vibrates and smashes the gravel into a smooth-ish surface. It weighs a lot, and it is called a Wacker. I am not making this up!

Neener, neener, I told you it was called a Wacker! Just wait until tomorrow – you won’t believe your eyes when I show you how the road guys get the Wacker out of the abutment area. Ooh, will you be able to sleep tonight with the anticipation of this new information??