Reaching Karmê Chöling: The Journey of our Bridge

Repercussions from the Flooding
This development is, in many ways, a continuation of the saga from the July flooding. That month, Vermont caught the tailend of a hurricane that had started down in the Southeast. In our area we received a deluge of eight inches of rain in three hours. While we dealt with some flooding in our basement, the most significant impact was the erosion of our roads and the banks of the Stevens River, which our bridge spans.

After the storm, the State of Vermont and the City of Barnet set about attending to the large number of infrastructure issues that needed inspection and repair. They've worked diligently over the last three months and have now been able to look into the matter of our bridge.

The Situation
When the State inspected our bridge and its eroded banks they decided it was too unstable for safe passage of vehicles. On October 4th they asked us to stop driving on it. To be able to have access to the broader world outside of Karme Choling, we parked our cars at the park-n-ride, a half mile from the house. All traffic across the bridge came to a halt, including deliveries of food, heating fuel and mail. Anything that arrived at the house either had to be walked across the bridge or transported with the Polaris (our light-weight, off-road vehicle we use to transport people and items up to the retreat cabins)

The Plan
Needless to say, not having a bridge was a strain on our operations. However, the city assured us that they would have a solution in just a few days, which they did! They decided to construct a temporary bridge over the top of the original bridge, so we could have access to KCL while they make the necessary repairs below.

The Bridge Materializes
Our temporary bridge arrived in "lego" pieces one week later on Friday, October 11th. The following day, a local crew member began marking the site for the new bridge, and by Monday, the equipment and personnel were on-site.

First the bridge itself was assembled. Those of us who love seeing big machines move large objects around, found excuses to go down and watch their progress.

Tuesday was devoted to establishing access up-to and down-from the new bridge. More big machines moved concrete barriers into place while workers compacted a mixture of dirt and stone around them. By Tuesday evening we were driving across our temporary bridge!

Back to "Normal"
For those of us housed at Ashoka Bhavan, walking an extra mile, (round trip) to the park-n-ride was good exercise, but we're happy to go back to hopping in the car and driving the whole way! We're now receiving deliveries again and program participants are able to be brought up to our front door!

Looking Forward
With this adventure behind us, we can look back to our ongoing kitchen remodel project at Ashoka Bhavan. We are at the point of replacing the gas stove that is in the downstairs kitchen with a new electric one. If you would like to help us out with this project, please follow the "Donate" button below.

Here is a link if you would like to see what we're buying: Lowes Hotpoint Stove