Winneconne's unique bridge...

We have something in Winneconne that is truly unique, the Winneconne bridge. It is unique because it is the only bridge in Wisconsin on a State Highway that is legal to fish from.

Many bridges have spanned the Wolf River during Winneconne’s history. The 849 foot distance has been home to a float bridge, built by J.D. Rush in 1853. This first bridge provided a thrilling crossing when it sometimes sat below the water on a windy day. The second bridge was built in 1871, it was a wooden draw bridge paid for by the village and the town of Winneconne at a cost of $20,000. Later an iron structure replaced it. In 1936 the current drawbridge opened to welcome the passage of larger vessels. For more history on the bridge you can go to http://www.winneconnewi.gov/historical/history/history.htm

I have always loved this draw bridge. It doesn't bother me one bit to be stopped on the bridge as it is raised to allow a large boat to travel from one side of the river to the other side. That is precisely what happened yesterday on my way back from from the store...and I just happened to have my camera with me.

This time the bridge wasn't raised for a large boat, it was raised to allow passage of a barge carrying a high crane. Here you can see the drawbridge raised and to the right you can see how high that crane was.

This is the barge now on the other side. The guy driving this thing did an amazing job. He had to park it next to a dock and in order to get into that "parking space" he had to back this barge up and then go forward again. He did this with great ease and I was surprised on how fast the barge could move. As I sat in my car waiting for the bridge to go down again and watched this barge move I thought...God, I can't even back up and go forward into a parking stall at the grocery store with my little KIA this easily!

For those not familiar with how draw bridges work, it's easy. As you are coming up the river, or down the river and you need the bridge opened...you blow your horn...the person in the little building on top of the bridge then stops all traffic going across the bridge and opens up the draw bridge. It's that simple. Remember the famous Christmas movie with Jimmy Stewart, "It's a Wonderful World"? When "George" jumps from the bridge and is all wet and cold he is taken into the little building on the bridge. Remember that part? Well, the little building is just like that.

Why am I telling you all of this? It has been decided that the draw bridge has to go. Either the new bridge will be finished in 2017 or they begin to build it in 2017 (I can't remember which). I have seen drawings for the new, higher bridge. It will run parallel to the existing bridge and there will be no fishing from this new bridge. However, to keep the fishermen happy, there will be a nice area built lower, closer to the water and way from traffic so they can still enjoy catching their dinner.

I am kind of sad, but I understand the logic and need for a higher bridge. Our emergency vehicles, fire, ambulance and police are all located on the west side of the bridge. When any of these services need to get to someone or some place on the east side because of an emergency call and the bridge is raised they lose minutes of precious time. I wouldn't want to be the person on the wrong side of the bridge waiting for paramedics to arrive to save my life while they are stuck waiting for a boat to go through the draw bridge.

My only hope is that my grandson Aiden will be able to see the bridge work at least one time before the new one is built. So everyone, enjoy our draw bridge this summer and fall because we won't have it much longer.