Building Bridges in the Wilderness

Trail construction projects sometimes entail bridge construction, and though daunting at times, it is fun, and the finished project engenders pride in a job well done as well as the knowledge that hikers now have an easier and safer water crossing available to them. Of my 35+ trail projects, these six have involved bridge construction.

My first such project was in 1999 in Utah's Manti-LaSal National Forest's eastern slope and this was what we encountered...

At the end of the week, this is what hikers now have available...

In 2001 we were working with the Colorado Trail Foundation on re-routing the trail from the main street through town up onto the mountainside above Copper Mountain ski resort. In other words, the new trail went through a wooded area, across a ski slope, through another wooded area and across another ski slope, etc. One area was a wetland, so to preserve the ecology of the wetland and give hikers a dry trail, we built a bridge over the creek and raised the approaches up above the wetlands...

In 2003, we helped convert an old railroad trestle into a bridge over the Wateree Swamp for South Carolina's Palmetto Trail...

In 2004, we helped the Florida Trail Association build a 32 foot long bridge over an 11 foot  deep ravine which flooded every time the adjacent Suwannee River flooded in the Osceola National Forest...

In 2006 we helped re-route a mile of South Carolina's Palmetto Trail in the Francis Marion National Forest off private land and onto forest service land. One small creek was going to be bridged with a few fallen tree trunks to balance across, but we told the ranger we could do better, and we did...

In 2010, it was back to Utah's Manti-LaSal National Forest on the western side of the mountain to help hikers cross this creek...

...and this is what we constructed...

In 2011, the North Country Trail Association needed help constructing a 4000 foot long boardwalk through the Sterling Marsh wetland area in Michigan's Manistee National Forest...

We even built a rest area...

...and also a bridge over a creek...

All these bridges required lots of hard labor and teamwork, but I think the results speak for themselves! So next time you go hiking, if you come upon a bridge, mumble a quick "thank you" to the crew that built it!