On a cold and windy Thursday in May, Andrea Berg stepped into the bucket of a boom truck and was lifted high above a bridge on U.S. Highway 65, just south of Collins, Iowa. Waiting patiently below was a group of Collins residents and elementary through high school students from the Collins- Maxwell Community School District.

Students from Collins-Maxwell Community School District and residents of Collins, Iowa, (above) gather to take a photo on U.S. Highway 65 bridge south of town before the bridge is demolished as part of an upcoming road project. Andrea Berg, who is a chemist in the Ankeny lab and a professional photographer, took this photo mimicking a similar photo (below) that was taken in 1983 on another local bridge prior its demolition.

The crowd of more than 400 looked up, and Berg snapped the photo to commemorate the bridge, which will be torn down as part of an upcoming demolition project. The photo appeared in the Ames Tribune on May 15, next to a similarly composed photo taken in 1983 of a bridge just south of town prior to its demolition. It also ran as a story on Des Moines’ WHOtv. com.

Berg is a chemist in the Ankeny laboratory and a professional photographer. Local library director Kesha Christie asked Berg to take the historic photo.

“It was definitely an honor to be asked to take this photo,” Berg said. “Two of my children were also in this photo, which makes it even more memorable.”

Shepherding people of all ages from multiple locations to the bridge at the same time required planning by Berg, Christie and Collins- Maxwell Community School District Superintendent Jason Ellingston.

“I have had a lot of people ask me if I was scared while I was up there,” said Berg, who described the boom truck and bucket as stable. “Actually, I was more concerned about getting the perfect shot than falling out!”