My Last Covered Bridge

     Just a month ago, on August 9, I was driving to the Green Lake Christian Conference Center for a writers’ reunion. I ran across two covered bridges in Waupaca and was continuing down side roads, angling my way to Green Lake, when I spied another sign for a covered bridge. I couldn’t believe it. 

 Springwater Volunteer Bridge is four miles east of Wild Rose and close to the bump in the road called Saxeville. Crossing the Pine River, the 40-foot long, one-lane bridge is on Covered Bridge Road just off of County Highway A and Portage Road.   

 In 1989, the county condemned the steel and concrete bridge which originally serviced this location. The estimate to replace it came in at $100,000. The town didn’t have close to that kind of money, even with the help of federal funding. 

 One of the board members had been out east and had been smittened by the covered bridges he had seen in Pennsylvania. He came home with the idea to construct one in his township. It took six years of hard work, but the bridge was finally dedicated June 1, 1997. The cost? Just under $50,000. 

 The park adjacent to the bridge couldn’t be more adorable.  

Good job, volunteers of Springwater. 


Now onto my next stop - the Conference Center. I’ll have to tell you about that next time.