Ode To Bennett's Mill Bridge

Bennett's Mill Bridge is presented as more than a monument to generations gone, but as an inspiration and a gift passed along. Planned by inspired builders and built without a flaw, it had hand-wrought iron bolts, roughly cut timbers, carefully placed stone foundations, and each nail and nut set with care. Its single neatly trussed span, near two hundred feet long, carried heavy wheels and rhythmed hoof-beat. As the Civil War was heating up and trains were spewing steam, a crew of men toiled slowly on to weave another's dream, in days before Roebling and his twisted cable wire, before there ever was a truck or air inflated tire. Still standing as it was placed, it bore a tiring task, defiant and independent against both human use and nature's blast. It evokes several generations, barefoot fugitives passing hours fishing worms, and weary travelers taking refuge from storms.

Kentucky · United States