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At Camp Griesheim helping hands
build bridges
[August 13, 2025]
In late July and early August,
Kogudus members and a crew from Adult & Teen Challenge of the
Greater Midwest worked together to completely rebuild the old bridge
at Camp Griesheim.
Key features of the Camp Griesheim structures include the Lodge /
Retreat Center, Chapel and the 123 feet long bridge spanning a Creek
bottom 23 feet below.
The bridge was first built 40 years ago in 1985 by a group of men
who were part of the faith based ministry. One of the crew building
the bridge was Owen Reiners, who said they did not really have a
design when they built it. Instead, they figured out the design as
they built.
Over the years, bridges often begin
to have structural problems and sometimes even deteriorate. In the
case of the bridge at Camp Griesheim, the 3” x 10” Dimensional
Timber framework became rotted to the point the bridge was no longer
safe to use.
When the problem was discovered,
the board decided it needed to be rebuilt. Crews involved in the
rebuilding included members of the Camp Griesheim Board plus some of the
original builders of the bridge. This crew was joined by a crew from
Adult & Teen Challenge of the Greater Midwest.
Licensed architect Dan Gavin drew up the plans for rebuilding and
helped ensure the plans met codes.
As the crews were rebuilding the
framework, they used new timber. The only part of the bridge that
Adult & Teen Challenge of the Greater Midwest could reuse was the
treated telephone pole support columns
Adult and Teen Challenge Board
Member Howard Woolard said when the Camp Griesheim bridge was built
40 years ago, the builders used timber donated by the state of
Illinois. He thinks the original lumber used on the bridge may now
be 70 or 80 years old.
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Brad Dalton, who works with Adult
and Teen Challenge (ATC) in Pekin, helped with the construction of
the bridge. Dalton said, “the lumber came from my brother’s
lumberyard.”
The Compelled Construction division of ATC raises funds for their
projects in various ways. Dalton said they raise funds including
running a moving company and a thrift store.
When they were completing the project on Friday, August 8, Woolard
said crews had worked three full days from 8 to 5. Part of the time
was spent staging the lumber and getting it ready.
Besides rebuilding most of the bridge, the crews put chicken wire in
between the railings to help support it.
The first weekend they worked, Woolard brought a group of young
adults from ATC, and he stayed at the retreat center with these
students.
Friends of Camp Griesheim and wives
of the board prepared lunch and dinner on the days people were
working on the project.
Hopefully, the newly renovated
bridge will last at least forty more years.
[Angela Reiners]
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