BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - The work to rebuild the iconic Honey Run Covered Bridge continues in Butte County.
Thursday, community members came together to celebrate the Groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the bridge, which was destroyed in The Camp Fire in 2018.
“We are doing our official groundbreaking even though we already broke ground, we were gonna do that earlier in September but because of the air quality being bad we decided to hold it off to where you could see some construction going on,” said Robert Catalano, President of The Honey Run Covered Bridge Association.
He says right now they are working on phase one, which includes the foundation, abutments and pillars. It should be complete by the end of October.
Phase two will include the actual bridge and the floor. That is expected to be done by next year.
Catalano says, “It’s all being done by private funding, no money from the state or county, or federal government, we took that over from FEMA, we wanted to make it a local project and so a local project it is.”
The third phase will include the covering of the bridge. But Catalano says it won't be possible without donations.
“Your support is what keeps us going, your support is what makes us feel like we can finish this,” he said.
Catalano says they are hoping to have the bridge completely done by the end of 2022.
State lawmakers Jim Nelson, James Gallagher and Chico State President Gayle Hutchinson also attended the ceremony.
Catalano says they've raised a little over a million dollars from community donations which has paid for most of Phase 1.