NOVA

The great North American covered bridge,

an icon of early engineering ingenuity.

Thousands of these uniquely distinctive structures

once knit this land together.

But today, the few that remain are under threat.

Abandoned, burned,

or destroyed by flash floods and storms.

Oh, my God.

The bridge is gone.

The devastation was absolutely total.

Now, a team of master craftsmen and elite engineers...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Stop!

Battle torrential rain and blizzards...

If this isn't out of the floodplain,

Mother Nature is going to take it.

Go on ahead.

To rebuild

one of the world's longest single-span covered bridges.

I don't think we've ever jacked

anything this large and this heavy up this high.

Let it down... whoa!

What are the engineering secrets that enable these huge spans?

And what can we learn

from the world's oldest covered bridges in China,

where engineers face the same challenge...

To save these historic wonders before they're lost forever.

We're losing more and more of our woven arch beam bridges.

Concerned?

Yeah, very concerned.

"Operation Bridge Rescue,"

right now, on "NOVA."

Major funding for "NOVA"

is provided by the following:

In the heart of upstate New York,

40 miles southwest of the capital, Albany,

lies the small town of Blenheim.

Fewer than 400 people live here,

but the town once boasted a landmark

that put it on the map...

A covered bridge with one of the longest single spans

in the world... The Old Blenheim Bridge.

This distinctive structure was also one

of the last surviving twin-lane covered bridges.

It is more than a symbol.

It is more than a structure.

It is an icon of our cultural identity.

Covered bridges were once a common sight

across much of North America,

with single spans up to 360 feet.

They connected communities and expanded the early road network.

Where timber was abundant,

craftsmen covered their bridges,

making the structures last far longer.

You have to admire the bridges

as workmanship of a different time.

A wooden bridge left in the open would last nine or ten years,

because when water gets in there,

rot sets in, and the bridge fails.

But covered can last indefinitely.

North America had an estimated 15,000 covered bridges.

But today, over 90% are gone.

In 2011, Hurricane Irene smashes into the east coast of America.

It slams North Carolina,

then blasts the rural heart of New England.

The storm reaches as far inland as Vermont,

with flash floods destroying two historic covered bridges here,

including the 140-year-old Bartonsville Bridge.

Listen to that.

I don't like that at all.

There it goes.

Oh, my God!

This was the event

that also wiped out Blenheim's cherished covered bridge...

A National Historic Landmark.

It was the heart of the town.

It was our small claim to fame.

The longest single-span wooden covered bridge

in the world.

It was always there.

It was always something you could depend on.

Hurricane Irene was almost a biblical flood event.

The devastation was absolutely total.

The area received some 15 inches of rainfall.

Roads were washed out, infrastructure was destroyed,

communications were virtually eliminated.

The floodwater here rose so high,

that it lifted the Old Blenheim Bridge wholesale,

up off its stone abutments,

carrying it a short way downstream,

before it was dragged underneath a roadway

and smashed to smithereens.

When we came down the morning after the flood,

there was pieces of the bridge, just scattered all over here.

There was a big chunk of the roof

that was laying up against the other side of the guard rail.

Just... the destruction.

It was hard to believe it was even possible.

And there was just this empty spot

where the covered bridge used to be.

The bridge is gone.

I felt like I'd lost a loved one.

It felt like I had lost a friend that I'd known my whole life.

After years of effort,

the residents of Blenheim have secured $6.7 million

to rebuild their lost bridge, attract tourists,

and help kick-start the town's recovery.

Thanks to everybody for taking the time out

to come down to the town board meeting,

Head of the Blenheim Recovery Committee

is Don Airey.

With that bridge,

that historic landmark being rebuilt,

we feel that we could almost close the door

and find some permanent closure,

although never forget,

the catastrophic day of August 28,

when Hurricane Irene struck.

To take on the unique engineering challenge

of rebuilding the Old Blenheim Covered Bridge,

the town has enlisted one

of the last surviving covered bridge craftsmen...

Stan Graton II.

Stan's a true craftsman.

A rare breed

in terms of being able to have the skill set,

the mindset, and the drive

to recreate these original icons of early America.

Saving them, preserving them,

and in this case, recreating them

for future generations to appreciate.

Stan is a third-generation timber bridge builder.

Today, he works with his cousin J.R.,

his father, Stan, Sr., and his son Garrett,

passing down knowledge and tools.

I've been in the family business since 1976,

and we build and restore covered bridges.

Yep.

But recreating the Old Blenheim Bridge

will test even a builder of Stan's pedigree.

Down!

Beautiful.

It's a massive structure.

It's going to be 36 feet high at the peak,

226 feet long.

It's going to be right up there

with the top projects that we've done.

There are no original blueprints of the bridge.

Luckily for Stan,

government engineers surveyed the structure back in 1936,

producing detailed plans.

We're duplicating the exact design of the old bridge.

We've changed the species of wood

from spruce to Douglas fir,

because you can't get a spruce that big and that quality

anymore.

And we're using galvanized steel instead of wrought iron,

and it's the only the compromises we made.

The Old Blenheim Bridge was built

by Nicholas Montgomery Powers in 1855.

To construct it,

he assembled the structure on land in Blenheim village,

while masons built the stone abutments

next to the creek.

Between the abutments, they installed temporary scaffolding.

The team then dismantled the bridge

and rebuilt it, piece by piece, on top of the scaffolding.

Once in place, they removed the supports,

allowing the bridge to settle onto its abutments.

But erecting bridges like this over fast-flowing rivers

was risky.

One worker was killed building the Old Blenheim Bridge.

It's more dangerous working over the water.

Men were a lot hardier back then than they are today,

I don't work as hard as my grandfather did,

I know that.

So now they need to find a safer technique

to build the New Blenheim Bridge.

The solution?

Build the bridge's two outer walls,

and one central wall,

flat on land, next to the creek,

then raise them vertically.

Brand-new concrete abutments

will elevate the bridge higher above the creek,

protecting it from future floods.

Once they've added the siding and rafters,

they must move the 100-ton structure, intact,

up onto its new abutments.

A daunting challenge.

Jerry!

Hey, Stan! How're you doing, buddy?

But one that this man, Jerry Matyiko, relishes.

Nice seeing you again.

Nice to see you.

He is a character, he is a character, yep.

Known him for quite a while.

He's a great guy, a wealth of knowledge

24 feet up, and how tall is it?

30 feet? 30 feet.