Building a Bridge (in West Virginia)

Steve and I are spending this Thanksgiving week volunteering with Mennonite Disaster Service in West Virginia. Steve is working on a bridge building project and I am shadowing the office manager.

In 2015 and 2016 areas of West Virginia were hit hard with flooding. Many privately owned bridges were washed out and people were unable to afford to replace them. Without a bridge, people couldn't even get to their house with a vehicle. Many people actually had to park along the road and wade through the water to get to their house. If they were lucky they may have been able to find a place up or downstream where they could drive down the bank and through the water and up the other side if the bank wasn't too steep. Here is a picture of a place that still doesn't have a bridge so they have no way to get to their house except through the water.

A bridge that was washed out

MDS is working with the state of West Virginia and replacing some of those bridges. Usually, with about six to ten volunteers one bridge can be built a week.

Steve and I were told to arrive in Griffithsville, West Virginia around 6:00 on Sunday evening so orientation could begin at 7:00. We got there mid afternoon and found the fire hall where MDS was staying and drove around the area for a little bit. We thought it strange that there was no MDS vehicles in the parking lot but concluded that the long term volunteers must have gone away for the day and would be arriving back later. We still pondered that there was no MDS tool trailer but decided it must already be on the job site. We could see a few signs that MDS was there. There was an empty trailer and some cement blocks and a camper by the side of the building. 

Since we were told to have our supper before arriving, we drove back to Charleston for a bite to eat and then returned to the fire hall at 6:00. There was still no sign of anybody and we were getting a little concerned. We double and triple checked our instructions from the email that I had on my phone and assured each other that we had heard nothing different. In fact, Steve had talked to Peter (the project coordinator) on Thursday and he had made no mention of coming to a different location. To make matters worse we had absolutely no cell phone reception so we could not call Peter either. We decided to wait until 7:00 and if no one arrived we would drive about 15 minutes back until we had cell reception and call Peter. 7:00 came and nothing. We drove back toward Charleston and finally Steve had a few bars. He called Peter and the connection was terrible but we managed to hear that we were at the wrong location. The base had moved to Clendenin a week ago and somehow we were not notified about the change. We were about an hour away and the worst part was that we had to backtrack and drive through Charleston again to get to the correct location. Needless to say, we were a little frazzled by the time we arrived around 8:00. However, everyone was friendly and understanding and we were just glad to be at the right place. We were pleasantly surprised to see that Merle Sollenberger (a friend from New Danville Church) was part of the group. It's always nice to see someone you know when you are away from home. 

Instead of a fire hall our accommodations are in a church. The church was damaged by flooding and the church didn't have the means to repair it. They offered it to MDS and MDS fixed it up for volunteers and that is where we are staying. Steve and I have a tiny room that is at the front of the church to the left of the pulpit. There is one identical to it on the right sight that the cook is sleeping in. Here are some pictures of the outside of the church.

Front of Church

The church sign still stands and MDS added their sign below it.

Back of church

There are a total of 13 of us here for the week. Ten are working on the bridge. Susan (the office manager and Peter's wife), myself, and Emily (the cook) are the only ones not actually going to the work site each day. 

Everyone is pretty good at taking pictures, and they are happy to share the ones with me that have Steve on so that is mainly what I will be posting. Steve is running the track hoe and chipping in wherever else he is needed.

Here are a few pictures from the first couple of days. On Monday, Susan, Emily and I actually went to the site because the senator was coming and there was a lot of excitement about that so we decided to join the fun.

Just beginning the bridge. You can see how close the bridge is to the road. They will have to stop traffic on one lane sometimes so they can work.

Lots of painting was done the first couple of days. Three young guys from Canada are on the crew and they pretty much come back each evening covered with paint.

That's the senator in the brown coat walking across the bridge.

The senator chatting with MDS Regional One Director Rodney (sorry don't remember his last name).

The man with the hat and brown coat is the homeowner, Clinton. He is so happy to be having his bridge replaced. He said he was more happy to see MDS than he was to see the senator!

News media. We are not sure if it was on the daily news or not.

Working hard.

Steve's designated job for the week is running the track hoe.

He does  get out of the track hoe at times and work on some other things.

The unit needed another office chair. We went to Goodwill on Wednesday and bought this one for $4.00. I had the privilege of  pushing it out of the store, across the parking lot, and to the car :)

I am enjoying learning the office work. There are a lot of details to remember but fortunately I have been keeping business records all my life so it doesn't seem too difficult. Susan is a great teacher and a very friendly person!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day but it is a work day here. We will miss not seeing family, but we are happy to be spending this year in this place building a bridge for a family that will be so thankful to be able to once again drive their car from the road to their house.