THE BRIDGE IS OPEN!!!

The bridge over the canal at Canandaigua Road in Macedon opened to traffic yesterday.  The previous bridge was closed in 2010, so for local residents and commuters who can now travel a more direct route to and from the village, this is cause for a BIG celebration.  (Especially so since the new bridge's two lanes have eliminated the need to wait your turn to cross the previous one-lane.)

This bridge is just a bit north of the Bullis house, and the previous structure (built in 1912) was used a great deal by the Bullis family as well as other Macedon residents. Nettie Bullis herself probably drove across that bridge on work days to her job at Gleason Works.  So if she was with us today, what would be Ms. Bullis's reaction to the new bridge? Hmmm ...

Due to the Bullis Family frugality,  we can speculate that Nettie Bullis  may well have thought that, although the new bridge is a big improvement, that the original bridge was good enough ...  that it served her and other drivers quite well.  However, being a strong community supporter,  Ms. Bullis might also have thought that a new structure was safer and thus justified. So as we drive over the new bridge in the days and weeks to come, let's silently celebrate the new structure, the tax dollars that  made it possible, and strong community supporters, like the Bullis Family.

BRIDGES AND POPPIES

Two things have been on our minds this week in connection with the Bullis collection. Bridges and poppies. How are these two related? We'll tell you next week.

But first we'll focus on bridges. We volunteers who live north of the canal have to travel farther these days to get to the Bullis Room, all because of a bridge closing. So when we made the trip recently, we wondered how many books on bridges were in the collection. The answer? Lots of them. So to all you bridge enthusiasts out there (and we know there are lots of you, as well), stop by and let us show you this section. And if you are unable to pay us a visit, here are brief descriptions of five of the volumes:

1. Iron Truss Bridges for Railroads, by Wm. E. Merrill, published in 1875 by D. Van Nostrand.

2. Typical Specifications for the Fabrication and Erection of Steel Highway Bridges, (prepared by the Office of Public Roads),  published in 1913 by the United States GPO.

3.  An Essay on Bridge Building: containing analyses and comparisons of the principal plans in use: with investigations as to the best plans and proportions, and the relative merits of wood and iron for bridges, by S. Whipple, published in 1847 by H.H. Curtiss.

4. Highway Bridges and Culverts, by Charles H. Hoyt and William H. Burr, published in 1911 by Government Printing Office.

And,

5. The Principles of Construction In Arches, Piers, Buttresses, etc., being a series of experimental essays made with a view to their being useful to the practical builder,  by William Bland, published 1867 by C. Lockwood.

That's all for the "bridges part" of this post. Next week we'll focus on poppies.