October 31, 2009
(Pictures Courtesy of John Higgins)
A group of six volunteers completed work on five more bridges on Corridor 11 on Halloween day. Four of the bridges were steel beam bridges one of the bridges was built with wood beams. Two of the steel bridges needed to have all of the bracing and beams welded. So Matt and Eric spent most of the day welding, cutting holes for stringers and moving the welding equipment from one bridge to another. The good weather really helped with temps in the mid-60's and we did not experience any equipment failures.
Eric and Mike ride over a "temporary" bridge built from loose boards. This "temporary" bridge was needed to get the welding equipment to the next bridge site.
The first bridge of the day is complete. The temporary bridge boards were removed, then stringers were bolted to the steel beams and the deck was nailed on using a Paslode gun. Larry and Roger are picking up the tools and getting ready to head out to the next bridge.
The second bridge is much like the first only this bridge is about 26 feet long.
Second bridge as seen from the top of the hill.
The third bridge was freshly welded this morning and the welding crew has moved on by building another temporary bridge deck.
The temporary bridge deck has been removed from the third bridge and stringers are being bolted in place. In the background, John taps a bolt thru the stringer while Larry and Roger mark the stringers just prior to drilling more bolt holes.
The third bridge deck is almost done. Roger in the foreground is picking up scrap lumber while Larry nails down the last runner. In the background John is ready to bevel the runners and Eric is just returning from packing up tools.
John is cutting a bevel into the ends of the runners so the drag does not catch on them in low snow conditions. The last step is to cut a two 5" diameter trees and place them along each end of the bridge to keep sled skiis from going under the deck of the bridge.
The fourth bridge of the day is a wood beam bridge. This is built with seven 6" x 6" x 16' beams that are set into place by hand. In this picture Roger and Eric have marked what they think is the center of the trail. Larry (white T-shirt) and John (holding the camera) are checking to make sure the center of the trail has been marked correctly before the bridge building can begin while Mike (black shirt) looks on.
The crew has finished with the fourth bridge and is in the process of packing up the tools. Note the logs that have been placed in front of the bridge to keep the sled skiis from going under the deck in low snow conditions.
We finally caught up to the welding crew! This is the fifth (and last) bridge of the day. Matt on the left is welding in cross bracing while Eric on the right is burning holes for stringers.
Matt completes the final welds, while the rest of the crew takes a break. As soon as Matt is done, Eric and John transport the welder to the last steel bridge on the trail about a mile away. The rest of the crew completes the decking work on the the fifth bridge of the day.
