Trail wooden bridges

[RayC 20]

Well, it has  been a while so first hello to all. You can understand  with  the lack of snow down here  not much to talk about.

In hoping for a good winter trail work has taken hold and off we go . One question i will ask all is about trail wood bridge building. 

As the cross boards are installed i believe that `spacing should used between each board for drainage.

There are others with a different opinion.

WHAT SAY YOU? Pictures accepted

thanks 

The older Phazerman :-)

[ICG 8]

Just seems that smaller  gaps .bridge / fill faster with snow, holding and making that snow road we travel on.

 

R

[Saluda 110]

32 minutes ago, ICG said:

Just seems that smaller  gaps .bridge / fill faster with snow, holding and making that snow road we travel on.

 

 

Sounds good to me. 

Welcome back.

 

[snorander 216]

All the bridges we built this fall (Alexandria Ledge climbers) we used no spacing at all. The reason being, this allows the snow to stay on the bridge, allows for a smooth transition on the bridge, the base of snow on the bridge protects the bridge deck from studs, carbides, etc, and hopefully extending the life of the bridge deck.

 

Steve

[Saluda 110]

I suppose with lumber now a days, you get spacing even without spacing once it dries.

[ICG 8]

Your 100% accurate.  .  .  Pressure Treated Lumber is extremely  heavy out of the bundle .  .  .

Green wood.is going to shrink when. the water dries in the sun and air.

 

 

 

[snorander 216]

Yes, definitely going to be some shrinkage.

[Sled Dave 17]

What I have seen while riding for almost 50 years is that when nobody is coming from the opposite direction, most sledders while crossing a bridge stay in the center of the bridge. Shouldn’t wear boards be put in the center also.

[CATRESERVE 248]

I have always spaced the boards to allow some water and summer debris to hopefully fall thru the spaces.  You can also get more bang for your dollar with spacing because it takes less boards.  The snow tends to hang on the bridge anyway and we continue to pull some snow off the bridges...you would be surprised how much weight it adds!

[Shifty 125]

I do my part to extend bridges lifespan. I just jump them……

[smallengineguy 88]

At EVSC we space about 3/4" between boards so they dry out over the summer and prevent rot. We also put boards lengthwise over that like tracks for the skis/picked tracks to go on.