Reputation of Quality Casting Key to Request
John Smith, a committee member of the Manawa Area Veterans Freedom Park project, had no doubt about who to call for fabricating a bridge for the park: his former colleagues at the Waupaca Foundry Research & Development Department. “I used to work at Waupaca Foundry for 20 years,” John shares. “As a Production Foreman, I witnessed firsthand the casting and fabrication skills and the quality of work those guys deliver. Iknew they’d do an amazing job.”
 
A Personal Inspiration for a Community Project
The Manawa Area Veterans Freedom Park project began from a personal place for John. “My daughter was serving in the Army, and I missed her,” he explains. “I thought... other communities have parks celebrating their veterans, and Manawa needed one, too.”

John envisioned the park not only as a tribute to the area's servicemen and women but also as a place for their families to feel their presence. “Military families sacrifice a lot by not having their loved ones around. Providing a park where they can relax, have fun, and celebrate their military family members at the same time... that’s what Manawa’s Veterans Park is all about,” he said.

Design and Symbolism of the Park
The Manawa Area Veterans Freedom Park is thoughtfully divided into two sections. One section is designed for family activities, featuring a pavilion, a swing set, play equipment, a splash pad, a kayak launch, a handicap-accessible dock, and more.
The other section pays tribute to veterans. Five walls represent the five branches of the armed forces. A monument salutes veterans killed and missing in action. A bronze eagle hovers above the memorial. And even the color of the concrete is symbolic - red to represent the blood shed for freedom. A 50-foot-wide canal separates these two sections, bridged both physically and symbolically by the structure The Waupaca Foundry R&D department were called upon to create.

The Challenge of Bridge Fabrication
Waupaca Foundry’s R&D department started with a 2D AutoCAD sketch of the bridge design. “It was the perfect opportunity for some of our high school interns to learn CAD design and get their feet wet,” said Lincoln O’Brien, Mechanical MFG Engineering Manager at Waupaca Foundry.

Fabricating the bridge to span the 50-foot-wide canal required substantial materials and effort: 750 feet of various sized Wall Tube, 900 feet of 2” x 2” x 3/8” Angle, and 106 pieces of 2” x 8” x 7’ Southern Yellow Pine Plank, resulting in an 18,000 lbs (estimated) bridge. The fabrication took 373 man-hours. “The scale of this project was pretty large,” O'Brien noted. “We always had two guys working on it due to the sheer size and weight of the material. It involved a lot of lifting, welding, setting it back down, checking limitations, and repeating the process.” Ensuring Structural Integrity
Ensuring the structural integrity of the bridge was another challenge. “Everything was drawn flat (2-dimensional). But with the bridge’s weight, there will be a dip in it. We continually ran calculations to account for that,” says Andrew Grenlie, Maintenance at Waupaca Foundry. O'Brien adds, “We check and recheck specifications throughout production to make sure we’re always right where we need to be.”  

Community and Team Spirit
The Waupaca Foundry team approached this community project with the same dedication they bring to their casting production. “The community is what makes our company what it is. The people here make Waupaca Foundry successful. Giving back is a good way to stay connected and show our appreciation,” O'Brien says. The R&D team members who worked on the project felt a deep sense of pride. A Meaningful Project Completed
The bridge for the Manawa Area Veterans Freedom Park was installed on April 26, 2024, with Waupaca Foundry employees Andy Grenlie, Randy Carey, Ron Womeldorf, and Lincoln O’Brien in attendance, marking a significant milestone for the park, community and the Foundry.