Adventures in Bridge Inspection

This past week brought me to New Town, North Dakota for a bridge inspection job.  It was quite a unique experience.  Not only was it cold, but the bridge, named the "Four Bears Bridge" was located on an Indian Reservation. 

The first morning greeted us with -11 degree temperatures.  It was cold enough to freeze the snot on your nose hairs instantly.  We stayed at the Four Bears Casino, and this picture was taken from the parking lot.  That's my red rental Ford Explorer with the casino sign in the background.

Here's the Aspen A62 bridge inspection truck.  It took a while for it to warm up that first day.

Here's the casino hotel.  Not the greatest of accomodations, but livable.  A drive-thru liquor store is conveniently located in the parking lot.

The Four Bears Bridge is about a mile long, and crosses Lake Sakakawea.  The lake freezes over in the winter, as you can see in this picture.  It is not uncommon to see the locals drive their trucks onto the lake for some ice fishing.

Here's a shot from inside the bridge.  I'm not sure where the bluish light came from, but it's a cool picture nonetheless.

The Scenic 23 restaurant was the only decent place to eat within an hour's drive.  It was about 20 minutes from the bridge.  Can you spot the typos?

I'm smiling because it's the last day on site.  

Here's Tim the truck operator.  Nice guy.

With all the snow on the last day, the DOT called us off the bridge so they could plow.

The Aspen A62 is a pretty sophisticated machine.  Although being in the basket and dangling 100' over a frozen lake took some getting used to, it was fun to learn to operate and drive around.  It has four booms, two turrets and a self-levelling bucket.

Here's a picture looking west over the lake, after the snow.  Nice knowing you, New Town!