Is Spring Here Yet?

Nice image above from Carrol, one of our volunteers. This is last winter I believe and one of the best shots I've seen of our arched bridge. The flooding this past spring covered the lower 2/3 of the bridge which will necessitate some repairs and an inspection by an engineer. This bridge is the most photographed spot in the gardens and we sure would like to extend its longevity. Another nice shot of Carrol's is below (4 months after the one above!).

I remember walking towards this bridge for photographs after my wedding in August of 1999. We didn't have our wedding at the gardens but definitely wanted some pictures there. As the wedding party progressed through the Japanese Garden towards the bridge, I saw some wild, ill-supervised kids running thru the Japanese Garden and made to intercept the culprits. My wife, in her beautiful dress, grasped my tuxedoed (is that a word?) arm with a grip of steel and whispered like Dirty Harry, "Not today.....not today." We then took our pictures on the bridge.
The bridge spans a 60' distance and was the brain child of our founder, Dr. Robert Yahr. This bridge style (and color) are meant to create a nice reflection as well. Some of the materials used to build this bridge were found on site when the gardens were first started. The supports are old light poles and the arched supports consist of 8 laminated beams from the old sewage plant in Janesville. When the bridge was lowered on to the concrete abutments, there was only a 1/4" margin for error. No problems though as Rotary Gardens had the help of David Knoerr, the retired civil engineer from the City of Janesville helping. That bridge will be going on 20 years old pretty soon and will undoubtably need some attention. It sure is a nice feature though.