LYNDONVILLE, Vt. (WCAX) – Lyndonville officials have come up with a cost-saving solution to protect a covered bridge that has been repeatedly damaged by trucks, causing thousands of dollars in damage. A planned solution to install $40,000 steel beams to protect the Miller’s Run Covered Bridge is now getting help with the assistance of local students.
”I think it will be pretty cool, and being able to tell people that I worked on it — probably my kids and all that — I think it will be great,” said Jason Vance, a senior at the Lyndon Institute.
He says he always loves a good challenge, so when he heard that his school would be working on steel beams for the Millers Run Bridge, he was eager to put his welding mask on. “I don’t know, it has always interested me. Melting metal together and stuff, it is also a really big paycheck,” Vance said.
The town tasked the school’s welding class to design a solution to protect the bridge, which police say gets hit about six times a year. The class designed and is now constructing two steel beams to reinforce the structure.
The town has worked on different projects with the students before. Lyndonville Police Ofc. Daniel Renaudette says it’s a great way for the town to save some cash. “What they do is write up a bill, like they were a welding shop, then they send us a recommended bill. It is always cheaper than hiring a real welding shop, it’s good community,” he said.
Ryan Brill, a Lyndon Institute teacher who owns his own welding shop, instructs his students the way he runs his business to give them real-world experience. “As if it is a job that they come to every day. It is not just a standard classroom, they show up and they are working on stuff they would be working on out in the industry,” he said.
The students hope to have the steel beams up by the end of the month.