Record-setting ninety degree temperatures met us as we arrived in Nashville, Tennessee. After settling in our hotel room, we ventured out for an introduction to Nashville. Broadway Street was our first Nashville experience, a riotous stretch of Honky-Tonk bars opens to the street, band stages set in front of the open bar windows with Hank Williams and Willie Nelson wannabes pounding high volume electric guitars, and over-powering it all, the drummer. After a torturous five blocks of music demolition of the great Country Music I love, Broadway ended at the Cumberland River. Across the river, a large red steel sculpture called the Ghost Ballet dominated much of the visual space, but next to the sculpture was an even more impressive sight: a 3,150-foot pedestrian bridge. Fabricated and erected in the early twentieth century, this riveted truss bridge served the Nashville community until it was closed to vehicular traffic in 1998. Originally named Sparkman Street Bridge, later the Shelby Avenue Bridge, and now after conversion to pedestrian/bike traffic named in honor of a famous newspaperman, it is known as the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge.

 

Eight o'clock the next morning Broadway Street was empty and quiet, the bars shuttered. The JSP Bridge began to fill with pedestrians and bicyclists. A fifteen-foot-wide center lane accommodates the bicyclists, and along each side of the bridge are ten-foot-wide raised sidewalks. JSP Bridge is well maintained: its riveted members, massive eyebars, and bridge pins are easily seen from the aesthetically designed East Bank Greenway below. Demolition of this bridge was considered, but "Due to aesthetic, architectural, and historical considerations, it was decided that it should be converted to a pedestrian bridge rather than be demolished" (Wikipedia). This decision had the foresight to defy conventional norms for the destruction of a historic structure and instead integrate the bridge into their East Bank Greenway. In addition to this connection with history of the area, the East Bank Greenway with the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge is part of the educational and diverse cultural events to be enjoyed by the citizens of Nashville -- as well as by a craftsman in search of rivets.

After a long driving stretch along US-80, Evanston, Wyoming, appeared at just the right time for a lunch stop. After pulling off the interstate, we saw a sign pointing toward the historic downtown and decided to follow the sign before looking for food and fuel. I noticed a large industrial brick building in the distance; we set off to explore that area first. Surrounding this building, (an abandoned Union Pacific Railroad Power House) was an impressive multi-acre complex of restored Union Pacific Railroad buildings.  

 

As soon as we parked I was on the renovated roundhouse railway turntable inspecting the two riveted trusses. The heavy upset eyebars used as tension members on the top section of the trusses caught my attention, an unusual application for eyebars. It was a fully restored and operational railway turntable that during its service allowed railroad rolling stock to be positioned into one of the twenty-eight train stalls in the roundhouse service bays for maintenance. Today, one of four sections of the roundhouse has been restored and re-purposed. The building is available for public and private occasions, weddings, graduations, and conventions, and is often booked a year in advance.

 

As with the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in Nashville, Tennessee, the Roundhouse & Railyards in Evanston is another important example where aesthetic, architectural, and historical considerations played a role in the decision to avoid destruction of a historic structure and to integrate it into the community fabric.  

 

To read more about the history of the Roundhouse & Railyards, along with information on renting and donating to this outstanding project, view the City of Evanston's informational brochure Evanston's Roundhouse & Railyards, a brochure that was financed in part with funds granted to the City of Evanston by the Historic Preservation Commission from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Exposed historic brick walls, riveted columns, trusses, early twentieth century warehouses, factories, and historic structures: today many are being re-purposed, some renovated for businesses that allow the public to enjoy historic spaces not found in the blight of sameness that urban sprawl has to offer. 

 

Many of these historic structures, valued for their industrial look, could be enhanced by incorporating new riveted elements in these renovated or re-purposed buildings: additional riveted columns and trusses in a craft beer brewery; riveted bar features in a hotel located in a restored historic building; riveted exterior structures that complement a park shelter or the entrance to a building; a new pavilion fabricated with riveted trusses. The only limitation for designing new riveted structures is the designer's imagination.  

 

Riveting will never return to its historic prominence or compete with the bolted or welded connections used on bridges and buildings today, but riveted members can complement new construction or enhance a re-purposed/renovated building. There are steel fabricators and blacksmiths today proficient in the hot riveting process who are able to do this work, fabrication of metal structures with rivets.

 

Re-educating the industrial community to do riveting as part of new construction can have the additional benefit of providing those responsible for making the decision for saving a historic riveted structure (bridge or building) with the knowledge that the industrial community has the expertise to perform both the engineering and fabrication service required for riveting.

For those engineers and architects who would like to explore design ideas for new riveted structures, I'm available to meet to review technical and fabrication questions. A workshop is being planned for the summer of 2019 at Lansing Community College with presentations for the preservation of historic riveted structures and the design and fabrication of new riveted construction.  

In March of this year we had an opportunity to visit the Shinola flagship retail store in Detroit, Michigan, at the invitation of Alex Stchekine, lead craftsman for the custom-level assembly of Shinola bicycles. Shinola occupies the Willys Overland sales office and warehouse, built in 1912 and re-purposed for their retail store in 2013. After a search of Detroit for an appropriate building, Shinola selected the Willys warehouse with some ideal features for a retail store, as described by Stchekine: "The layout of the building is quite impressive. We've left the riveted iron truss and beam structure intact and exposed. Natural daylight shines through the original skylights in the roof." It was an impressive space, an example of the kind of space that could be a great setting for new riveted elements in keeping with a historic building. With advance knowledge and planning, a designer could incorporate riveting into such a building: in furnishings, display units, an interior coffee shop café, high tables, and chairs -- all could be designed with rivets.

This full-day workshop on Saturday, September 15, 2018, at Lansing Community College's West Campus will introduce welding technology to women who are not necessarily already in industrial careers (for career exploration and exposure to industrial experiences to expand career opportunities) or whose current work would benefit from an increased knowledge of welding processes (such as a civil engineer, architect, industrial supervisor etc.). Cost: $165. If you are interested in more details, please send your contact information to Vern Mesler ([email protected]).