Blackwell Bridge Letterbox Hybrid

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Hidden : 3/24/2009
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Blackwell Bridge

Blackwell Bridge

Photobucket

This is a Letterbox hybrid cache. The purpose of a Letterbox cache, is to trade imprints from rubber stamps. If you do not have your own rubber stamp, please sign the log as usual.
The hide is a regular size ammo box with a compass stamp, ink pad and a log with pen. Please do not trade these items out they must remain in the cache. You are searching for a regular sized ammo box hidden well. The coordinates should get you within 30 feet of the hide. Once arriving at the location you are searching for a letter. Once you spot this letter go to the opposite end. There you will find the cache well hidden from view. Please re-hide the cache back as found. Be sure you have found the correct cache. When placing this hide I was aware of a "Scarlet Letter Box" in the park. Never knew where it was and had no time to search the day of this placement. What are the odds I stuck mine out right on top of it!

Photobucket

With the start of construction in 1976 of the Richard B. Russell Dam, life changed quickly and dramatically in some parts of all four counties. The Federal Government bought 52,000 acres along a 28-mile portion of the river and its tributaries. Eventually, 26,650 of those acres would be under water. Farmers and others in the path of the new Russell Lake that would form when the floodgates closed had to move, along with those occupying other land designated for road and railroad relocation's and recreational areas.

Among the most dramatic relocation's was the water transport of Blackwell Bridge. From its location over Beaverdam Creek in the southern part of the reservoir, the bridge was to be moved to Coldwater State Park, which was created as a result of the dam. The Corps of Engineers managed the unusual feat with help from two U. S. Army combat engineer battalions from Fort Stewart. The soldiers participated as part of a training exercise.

Engineers had deemed Blackwell Bridge worth saving because of its distinctive architectural value. Built around 1917, the bridge has a single span design and important features of the "American System" of pin connections. As a result of its significance, Blackwell Bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Moving the bridge without any damage presented a rare engineering challenge. Crews first carefully measured its dimensions, then considered various transportation alternatives. After much deliberation, experts decided to dismantle part of the bridge deck and attach flotation devices to the main structure because that was likely to cause the least stress on the materials.

Guiding the bridge up water to its new spot was scheduled to coincide with and take advantage of the rising of the new Lake Russell in late August and early September 1984.

After attaching steel dredging pontoons and styrofoam floats beneath the bridge, workers detached the entire structure from its granite abutments. Then Blackwell Bridge was ready to go for a ride. Soldiers towed the floating bridge behind new jet exhaust bridge boats, which were receiving one of their first performance tests.

When the remarkable convoy reached Coldwater State Park, 20-ton cranes took over, hoisting the bridge out of the water and into its new resting place over a stream in a secluded cove. A new deck was built, and Blackwell Bridge was ready to serve exclusively as a foot crossing for visitors passing along a hiking trail.

Permission for these hides was given by: Keith Whitaker, Park Manager of Richard B. Russell State Park and/or Jerry Cook Assistant Park Manager, phone (706) 213-2045

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Sbyybj gur qrnqjbbq hcuvyy

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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