NSRGA is dedicated to historic truss bridge and greenbelt restoration.
Julie Bowers is the Executive Director of the North Skunk River Greenbelt Association (NSRGA), a non-profit she helped found in 2009, growing out of the “Friends of Skunk River Bridge,” to save a historic bowstring bridge in Iowa. In 2011, with master craftsman Nels Raynor, she formed Workin’ Bridges under the NSRGA umbrella to help others across the country preserve their historic bridges.
Ms. Bowers is a graduate of Grinnell College and a fourth-generation contractor. She is dedicated to realistic rehabilitation costs, to economical ways for people new to bridge restoration to raise funds, and to making historic bridge preservation affordable for off-system adaptive reuse. She has been involved in preservation efforts in 12 states. In 2014 she researched the reuse of Wiley’s Bridge in Berks County, which led to her work with Preservation Pennsylvania and PennDOT’s Bridge Marketing Program. Projects include delivering a variety of historic bridges to DNREC for a trail project in Yorklyn, Delaware.
The Board
Our non-profit has had some truly awesome board members. We finished the McIntyre Bowstring, our flagship project and our beloved truss bridge from Iowa. To preserve it we had to become a contractor and work with experts to get it done. They were outstanding. It took nine years.
As we grow out of construction projects and into heritage bridge parks across the U.S.A., we need a broader range of board members to help decide which bridges we can preserve. If you’re interested, please give us a call. Current board members are Laran Bowers (President), Jaydine Good (Secretary / Treasurer) and Julie Bowers (Executive Director).
NSRGA is a 501(c)(3) corporation founded in January 2010. Workin’ Bridges was formed under the umbrella of NSRGA to pursue hands-on bridge preservation.
The Team
Over the years the team has grown. One thing remains the same: the fabrication company in Michigan that saved our McIntyre Bridge.
Nels Raynor
President, BACH Steel · Holt, Michigan
Nels has worked in the steel industry since the ’80s, started his own business in 1992 and has worked on historic trusses since 1998. A Workin’ Bridges co-founder in 2010, he is an expert in steel and iron fabrication, historic materials including wrought iron, and hot riveting. He restored three historic Pratt trusses through the TxDOT Historic Truss Bridge Program and was master craftsman on the Paper Mill Bowstring and the Springfield Bowstring, among many others.
James Schiffer, PE
Schiffer Group Inc. (SGI)
Jim joined the team in 2014. He has engineered and delivered plans for five bridges and joins site visits, working with the craftsmen on engineered solutions. Real numbers at the start of a project lead to well-informed decisions.
Derek & Lee Pung
Owners, BACH Steel · St. Johns, Michigan
Derek and Lee first appeared during the Piano Bridge restoration by DCI in Texas. Since then they’ve partnered with Nels on projects from the abutments for the Springfield Bowstring to the extensive rehabilitation of the McIntyre Bridge, erected in Delaware in summer 2018.