Along Lake Holcombe’s northwest shoreline is one of only a handful of covered bridges in Wisconsin.
The bridge measures over 120 feet long and spans a small backwater bay.
Construction of this landmark bridge began in 2004, after a 10-year fruitless attempt by owner Eric Adolphson to negotiate with the adjoining land owner (Xcel Energy) for an access easement across their vacant land and to the north of the bay. Undaunted by this setback, Adolphson realized that there were only three possible ways to get to his land from the town road - go around the water, go under the water or go over the water. Since the first possibility had been exhausted, he looked at the other two options. Tunneling under the water was virtually impossible, which left going over the bay his last resort.
After an exhausting amount of research, Adolphson (an engineer by trade) found a resource that constructed and sold “Bailey Bridges.” Bailey bridges are built on site from a pre-engineered system of ready-to-assemble steel components and can be built to match a wide range of vehicular bridging applications. Because of their excellent versatility and overall value, thousands of Bailey bridges have been installed throughout the world.
Bailey bridges were originally designed in the 1940s to move tanks and military equipment across rivers and ravines and to this day they remain the current standard panel bridge of the U.S. Army.
The next obstacle in the plan was obtaining a permit to construct a bridge. After several meetings with different |
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officials from the Wisconsin DNR, it was agreed that a permit could be granted — but there was to be one stipulation. The bridge needed to blend in with its natural surroundings, not look like a chunk of steel lying across the water. In essence it needed to look like a historic covered bridge, similar to those found in Madison County, Iowa. Adolphson supplied the DNR with an artist’s rendering of what he envisioned the covered bridge to look like. The permit was granted and a new chapter of Lake Holcombe history began!
The bridge was completed in the spring of 2006, and as of today, the aptly named “Stupid Bridge of Chippewa County” is Wisconsin’s longest privately-owned covered bridge for vehicular traffic and has been registered on an independent website that records the locations of covered bridges throughout the United States <www.dalejtravis.com/bridge/ wisconsn/htm/49009a.htm>.
Statistics: The Stupid Bridge of Chippewa County, 112’ x 20’ x 14’, 2006, 49-09-A across inlet from Lake Holcombe northwest of Holcombe, Birch Creek Township, Chippewa County, Wis. From Wis. 27 go west on County M 3.2 miles past Paradise Shores and Larry’s Resort. Turn right (north) on 250th St. and go 2.0 miles past the Pine Drive Resort. At the stop sign turn right (east) and go 0.3 mile on 290th Ave. which turns north and becomes 253rd St. Continue 0.5 miles to the bridge on the right (east) side of the road. (3-29-06, N45° 16.21’ W91° 09.94’) |