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[April 12, 2014]
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| Friday morning saw another chapter
competed in the saga of the broken wagon. The world's
largest covered wagon was carefully put back together by the
crew of Matthews Construction.
The wagon blew off its wheels early
this year during a severe winter storm with high winds.
The Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau
of Logan County, which owns the wagon, set about selecting
someone to repair all the broken pieces. In early
March they selected Brad Matthews of Matthews Construction,
who also agreed to collaborate with the wagon's original
builder, David Bentley.
The bureau asked Matthews to have
the wagon restored by the end of April. |
The morning began at 8:30 with the arrival of
two of the wheels. In the storm, two wheels were destroyed and
one damaged. The fourth wheel survived the storm, but it was
later discovered that someone had intentionally damaged that wheel
also.
Matthews, his crew and Bentley built from scratch two wheels,
repaired the other two, painted the wagon and wheels, and did
repair work on the fiberglass Lincoln statue.
On
Friday it all came back together into one piece again. With
the help of RBC Towing of Lincoln, the wagon was lifted into the
air, the four wheels put back on, the multiple jack stands put back
in place, and finally Abe was hoisted back up into his seat.
Pictures by Nila Smith |
