debris and some clamps in the picture.
The Architect said he believes this bridge last 50 years.
Final Note: The bridge is complete and the scraps are picked up and disposed of.
The bridge is in daily use and it looks great.
Update as of Tuesday Evening, 6 October 2009 by Eric.
Deck and handrails complete.
This afternoon Dan and I fastened the handrails in place and
added some more staples to hold the screen in place.
Each side needs a step as the bridge is 12+ inches above grade.
That will be done as soon as the weather clears - and the school schedule
lightens up a bit
| The bridge completly decked with a bit of construction debris and some clamps in the picture. |
Dan in the pose that he had envisioned since the project started. The Architect said he believes this bridge last 50 years. |
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Update as of Thursday Evening, 1 October 2009 by Eric.
Deck in place.
Dan, with the help of Dave Johnson and myself, got the entire bridge deck cut, placed, and screwed down. Pictures are not available yet but are coming soon.
Update as of Monday evening, 28 September 2009 by Eric.
Monday - skeleton crew.
After a rainy Sunday stopped all work, Monday morning started with the addition of a wider footer to each end of the bridge.
Then it was on to installing the outriggers that add rigidity to the trusses.
| Outriggers and new, wider, footer are complete. | The bridge without the temporary braces. It is ready for the decking and hand rail caps. |
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| View of the bridge from a short ways upstream.
Compare to a photo of the old bridge on the right. |
Old bridge photo from April. |
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Update as of Saturday, 26 September 2009 - 9:05 PM by Eric.
Saturday - What a day!
We started Saturday morning with one truss build and a lot of bridge to go.
We ended Saturday with a lot of bridge done!
| Working in the narrow path area leading to the bridge. The second truss is being built while the first one lays off to the right. |
The first truss, on it's side, lays across the creek. Despite the temptation, no one walked across it. |
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| Closer view of the double-joist that the trusses mount to. | The truss is attached to the double joist and held vertically by some braces. |
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| The first truss mounted - the second truss is about to be brought across. | With the second truss in place the joists are placed. |
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| At the end of two days of effort the bridge awaits only it's remaining joists, decking, out-riggers, and hand-rails to be complete! |
The bridge on Sunday with all the joists in place and wrapped with caution tape. |
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Thursday:
Dan relaxes after the materials were delivered.
The pieces on the left are about 24 feet long which is what makes the other lumber appear "small".
Those eight 2x8 pieces were more than a third of the total material cost!
Friday:
The first of the two trusses has been built and most of the parts are cut for the second truss.
Also, the old bridge is GONE. Some excessive wailing with a sledge hammer and a single reciprocating saw were all it took.
BEFORE (April 2009)
AFTER (Friday September 25th.)
We'll be starting about 8:30 or 9 AM on Saturday September 26th.
This is a big bridge - 22 feet long and about 8 feet from the water at it's maximum height. We definitely need your help and it looks like it will be a lot of fun. If it rains or if we need additional time to complete then we'll start again on Sunday morning at 9AM. Check back on this page for status later on Saturday or call if you can make it on Sunday. See the link to photos of the old bridge at the bottom of this page.
There will be pizza for lunch and Gatorade and water available.
Here are some photographs of the previous bridge.
A scale (1mm = 1in) model of one of the trusses (a side) of the replacement bridge is here