ANTHONY SOMMER / TSOMMER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Robert Leathers, a New York architect who designed
the 150-foot wooden bridge being built by volunteers
at Kauai's Lydgate Park, looked on yesterday as pieces
that were cut last week were assembled by residents.
The project will be finished Sunday afternoon.

Effort bridges
Kauai residents

The community builds a
bridge at Lydgate Park to join
the beach and a future campsite

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By Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.com

LIHUE >> Society matrons and prison inmates are literally rubbing elbows this week in a massive community effort to build a bridge at Kauai County's Lydgate Park on the island's east shore.

Organizers say the number of participants in "Bridge Build 2001" is likely to top the 7,000 volunteers who built Kamalani Playground at the same park seven years ago.

The bridge, 150 feet long and 40 feet high, spans a gully that divides what will be a large campground from the beach. It will be open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, as well as wheelchairs so disabled people can reach the beach unassisted.

Tim Bynum, a family counselor who is the coordinator of the project, said the plan is to double the size of the park over the next couple of years. He hopes the campground will be completed by next summer.

The park addition is being built on state land that will be turned over to Kauai County. It is being funded by a $2.6 million federal highway grant. The local match is the "in-kind" contribution of volunteer labor.

Work actually began last week with the pre-cutting of 65,000 board feet of lumber into pieces that are being assembled this week. It will be treated with more than 300 gallons of linseed oil. The entire bridge is made of wood and recycled plastic.

"Like the earlier playground project, one of the most wonderful things about this is that it brings together people from all the diverse groups in the island who don't normally socialize with each other," Bynum said.

Mayor Maryanne Kusaka was working in a tent with a group of local artists building large concrete wall panels that will adorn the bridge. Embedded in the concrete are thousands of ceramic sculptures made by Kauai schoolchildren.

Nearby, a group of professional construction workers were erecting a portion of the bridge. Their employer guaranteed them eight hours of pay if they worked four hours on the bridge. Most planned to stay the entire day and come back on the weekend.

Also among the workers were several men wearing Kauai Community Correctional Center T-shirts, trustees from the nearby state prison.

Local companies have donated heavy equipment ranging from hammers and drills to cranes and forklifts.

The bridge was designed by Robert Leathers, an architect from Ithaca, N.Y., who works only on structures built by local volunteers. He estimates he has done 1,600 similar projects all over the United States.

Kauai residents and visitors are welcome to join the effort, which will be completed late Sunday with a blessing scheduled for 4 p.m.

Just follow the many "Bridge" signs along Kuhio Highway to the site and sign in at the tent marked "Volunteers." They will find work for anyone with any skill.