Sunday, July 01, 2007

Building Bridges


Out with the old...


In with the new...


Putting in the foundations

I spent the day with the mountain bikers building a bridge in Crothers' Woods. The trail crosses many wet gullies. Some of them have been bridged with whatever was lying around, ie. old railway ties, broken up concrete, and even old pieces of carpet. In this section the old construction was deteriorating badly. Whenever it rained the trail became very wet.

So we removed all the rotting wood and replaced it with a brand new cedar plank bridge. We also put in a weeping tile system to direct the water away from the path and into the gully. The bridge is a very simple design but it is very sturdy and should last for many years.

When we finished it some wag suggested we call it the "Trisha Kaplan-Freed Memorial Bridge" after a recently departed city worker (departed as in left for B.C.). I don't think she'll mind. Besides, she'd have to come back to T.O. to complain :)


The "Trisha Kaplan-Freed Memorial Bridge"


Another view. The weeping tile system is on the left side of the trail underneath some broken up rocks.

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