The destruction of Dinkey Bridge, located just east of campus, began last Friday at noon and will continue until the end of this week.

Dinkey Bridge was once part of the campus railroad system owned by Union Pacific Railroad. When the service was discontinued and the tracks removed in 1929, Ames residents continued to use it for transportation.

It became a popular hang out place for local high school and college students, who eventually covered the bridge in artwork. Union Pacific decided recently to tear it down due to liability issues, despite efforts by the City Council and Ames citizens to save it.

“The crews have been removing all the portions of the bridge, and that’s been going very well,” said Mark Davis, director of corporate relations and media for Union Pacific.

Last week, Mike Howard, excavating contractor, removed the wooden ties of the bridge and said the next step is cutting the steel support beams, which each weigh about 13,800 pounds.

The Ames Historical Society attended the destruction Friday to determine if any of the painted ties could be salvaged for a future museum exhibit.

“We went back at 5 p.m. to rescue several huge wood painted ties,” said Alan Spohnheimer, of the historical society. “We got the one with the penguin … Mike promised us five or six additional ones from the west end;  the ones that were all together holding up that end.”

On the Facebook group entitled Save the Dinkey Bridge, which Ames resident Nitin Gadia began to gain supporters for a petition in March, members have shared their photos and memories of the bridge. Tuesday, Gadia added a video he made explaining the reasons for the destruction of the bridge.

Some community members are still disappointed with the loss. Tyler Grieser, senior at Ames High School, said the bridge was a fun place to go with his friends.

“It was definitely a part of Brookside Park, and it was unnecessary to take it down,” Grieser said, “especially since they put all that neat art on it.”

Although Grieser said he has witnessed people jumping off the bridge for fun, he doesn’t think the bridge is a liability. He looks back on his memories at Dinkey Bridge fondly.

“I’m going to miss that bridge,” Grieser said. “There are definitely a lot of good memories.”