To his team of engineers, he said, "What say you?"
Without flinching, the foremost among them, a robust-looking dwarf, said, "Two days, if we risk fire for visibility by night and work from dawn to dusk in shifts, without let."
Baldric made no effort to conceal his surprise. "That quickly? I would have thought a week or more!"
The dwarf gave him a look. "Surely, if we were building a structure that were to be used more than once. But this is another matter entirely; a light structure that is to be used once, then cut loose so that the river may destroy it for us."
"Then I leave you to it," Baldric said, relieved. "This news is better than I had hoped, on all accounts!"
Baldric watched their progress with fascination, for he had never before seen the building of a temporary wooden span, let alone one that would withstand the ferocious might of the White River.
First begun was the near anchor-point, a makeshift pier built from land out over the river. At the same time, trees were felled and stripped of branches to make poles. These were laid in two parallel lines upstream, until they reached a length somewhat greater than the width of the river. The poles were then lashed together in seamless bundles of three, both by being wound together with rope, and by being drilled through at the ends and intricately tied together so that their length