Back in June

In early June – National Trails Day, to be exact – a dozen North Country Trail Association volunteers spent a tough day getting TWO 28’ treated beams to a new bridge site on the trail between Great Conglomerate and Potawatomi Falls. The fact that the bridge is a mile from the closest road created all kinds of logistical challenges. Nevertheless, the determined group heaved, lugged, pushed, and maneuvered the beams, each weighing about 600 pounds, from the parking lot to the trail.

To simplify matters a bit, a 6-wheel tracked ATV provided the bulk of the pulling power; the front of the beams were rigged to an upside-down U-shaped log hauler and the rear was chained to an iron skid. Not that the mechanical devises made the transport what anyone called “easy”. It took 5 hours to get Beam 1 on site; the second one went much faster, owing to the hard-learned lessons from the first.

After what seemed like forever, the group stood on the banks of the small, unnamed tributary of the Black River debating the exact future location of the bridge. “All we’ll need to do next week is bring down and install the lumber for the decking and handrails”, remarked the [overly optimistic] project leader (rumored to be a columnist of this paper…).

Houston, We Have a Problem

On the Monday following the beam hauling, I happened to mention our great feat to the Forest Engineer, along with an off-hand comment that the bridge was nearly 30 years in the making. Back in the early 1980s, 4 bridges were planned and designed for the North Country Trail between Great Conglomerate and Rainbow Falls, but limited funding for manpower and materials allowed only 3 to be built. This one, at 28’, was to be second longest.

“Could I take a quick look at the drawings?” asked the Engineer. What followed should have been better anticipated. You see, a few things have changed in the last 30 years, including bridge designs and building codes. Today’s bridges must be built with THREE beams. And, if the span is greater than 20’, the beams must be glu-lams. Dimensional lumber can only be used for bridges 20’ or less. And glu-lams are much heavier than their rough-cut brethren, at 800-1000 pounds apiece.

I ‘weighed’ my options. Even if I could figure how to get 3 gargantuan glu-lams in and the 2 original “lightweight” beams out, there was a good chance I would have to do so by myself. This group of volunteers are dedicated. But convincing them to undo and redo seemed inhumane, and unlikely.

Plan B

Eventually, Plan B emerged. The aforementioned Forest Engineer procured a third beam, about 26’. We would haul it to the parking lot, take the rest of the lumber (for the bridge decking and handrails) to the job site, find a suitable place to cross that was no more than 20’, place the support sills, measure the exact span, cut the ends off the original beam pair, back haul the excess, cut the new beam, and drag it in.

There was a bit of good news, though. A few months ago, Dick Steiger/Steiger’s Home Center generously donated a load of ‘slightly’ twisted and/or warped lumber. Since we’d be cutting most of the lumber into shorter lengths, we eagerly accepted his offer.

On Friday, Oct. 15, three of us measured and cut 2x6s into 3’ planks and 2x4s into 8’ and 12’ pieces for the rails. Quite a few calculations were necessary to determine the proper length of the vertical 4x4 rail supports: the handrails must be 42-54” when finished. That’s 42” + the width of the decking (1.5”) + the approx. 14” below the deck that is secured to the beams. And since the planks overhang the stringers, we’d need 14” spacers between the beam and the rails. [Note to students that think they’ll never need to use “math” when they’re adults…]. The final tally was a 58” rail + 14” spacer, which equals 72” = 6’.

Five hours later, we had an impressive stack of pre-cut lumber, the third beam (whacked now to 22’), the 6-wheeler, and a trailer to be towed by the ATV on one of the longest utility trailers in the Bessemer District’s inventory.

A Wrench in the Works…

We were ready! Volunteers, tools, hardware, lumber. “Did anyone remember to bring some wrenches to tighten the bridge bolts?”. WRENCHES!!!!!

At the bridge site, we re-examined our crossing choices. Our first pick was no longer viable, given the 20’ span limit. A second spot was a bit further from the existing trail but would be much easier digging.

The sills got placed and after an interesting struggle, two now-20’ beams were over the creek. [I guess one of the things I like best about working with volunteers is that they tend to come from varied backgrounds and experiences. There’s very little that one of them hasn’t done before. That’s a real asset for figuring-out how to get behemoth beams across an 18’ span, 8’ above the streambed.]

We went back for the third beam and commenced with the planking. I guess time passes quickly when you’re having this much fun, because it was almost dark by the time we stopped. “Anyone want to come back tomorrow and finish the handrails?”, I asked. [At this point, I should confess that a 30+ year veteran of the District had sorta challenged me to get the bridge built this year. “I’ll believe it when I see it”, he had said.]

Devotion

If you were outside at all last weekend, you know it was gorgeous. Sunny, clear. Perfect for doing anything. Especially relaxing.

Yet, four volunteers (including 3 from the previous two days) signed-on for another day of hard work.

We started around noon, figuring (hoping?) we’d be done by 3:00-ish. The first two vertical supports went in quickly. On the third one, we noticed we were about out of washers for the bolts. [A later check of the note that came with the bolts clearly stated “you’ll need 40 washers”.] With all the local hardware stores closed, two of us went to raid the maintenance sheds at the Harbor. It took awhile but we eventually scavenged 38 of ‘em.

4:00 came and went. We were putting in supports and handrails as fast as we could. One volunteer was rerouting the new trail and obliterating the old. 5 PM: twisted 2x4s, although gratefully free, are not the easiest to attach to twisted 4x4s. 5:30: “Are we done yet?” 6:00. By now, it was getting dark and chilly. By 6:30, we were using the flashlight that’s a novelty feature of one of our cordless screw guns to see the screws. I was getting looks, when I could see them, that were scary.

We packed up and headed to the parking lot. It was completely dark and quite cold when we arrived. But we were warm inside. We’d built a big bridge a long ways from a road and we’d done it THIS year. True, there are still five handrails left to attach but those will be a piece of cake!

Spanning More than Water

Before we were even half-finished, a steady stream of hikers was using our masterpiece, stepping over and around the drills, cords, hand levels, and box of screws. They loved it!

Building a bridge is, in fact, fun. It builds friendships and a sense of pride. This one only took 30 years and 4 months, an extra beam, a truck load of donated lumber, and 150 hours of heart-felt volunteer labor.

Hope to see YOU in the woods. Hammers optional.