After torching and grinding, there was a 7/16 inch gap to fill by welding. It was hoped that the contraction of the weld metal, during cooling to room temperature from the molten state, would pull the ends of the bar back into alignment. A copper bridge was hammered to shape, and held in place by an old bolt being jammed under it, in order to keep the weld metal from falling into the void. In this view the first bead of weld has been placed.

Photo by Bill Liebman