New Bridges Are Done

[mjpo]

Another awesome Eagle Scout project was completed this weekend. Thanks to Caleb Mattson from Eaton Rapids for all of his hard work. Caleb introduced himself to me at the time trial last fall, asking if there were any projects we needed help with. I gave him my wish list and he picked the biggest project on it. Caleb designed two bridges to span a low lying section of Glorious Poperds. It is pretty dry this spring, but I don't think it was opened until July last summer. It won't be closed again! The two bridges are a total of 220 feet long. They turned out great. It was too dark to get a good picture by the time we finished last night, so you have to go check them out. To give you an idea of how big of an undertaking this was, I calculate it took about least 30 man-hours just to put the decking boards on....after they had all been cut! There were at least 4 people working on this part of the job all day yesterday. Thanks to Caleb, David Mattson, Grandpa Mattson, Dalton, Kurt, Michael Lee, and David Lee. Thanks also to the park, especially Tim, for all his work with the tractor on a couple of prior weekends.

[reidabel]

That's great, I'm really looking forward to riding through there as soon as I get a chance. One more fun section added to the advanced mtb trail at Burchfield - this place is just getting better and better!

Thanks to everybody that helped on this project!

[AllMountin']

Can't wait to see these. This section should be all but weatherproof now.

Thanks to Caleb and the volunteers.

[TenSpeed]

I wish I knew where this was. I would love to check the new work out.

[rvd]

Ran into Caleb and his dad tonight snapping some pictures of their project; deservedly proud. These bridges are really well built. Fun to ride now, funner with water as added risk. That said, the bridges as very sturdy (well built) and wide enough that these won't pose problems at any skill level.

I wish I knew where this was. I would love to check the new work out.

Ride the trail. You can't miss it. Directions here.

[mjpo]

I wish I knew where this was. I would love to check the new work out.

On the way to McNamara, if you take Glorious Poperds to get there.

[TenSpeed]

I guess I just don't know what Glorious Poperds is, or where it is.

[reidabel]

Okay, forget about the trail names ... park at MacNamara Landing, follow the beginner trail East and then North around the pond. About halfway up the pond you'll see, on the right-hand side, crunched-down bushes where the tractor made a trail into where the bridges have been made, about 50 feet East of the beginner trail.

I'd guess the bridges are 300 yards NorthEast of the MacNamara parking lot, inside the forested area that always gets standing water each year.

[TenSpeed]

Okay, forget about the trail names ... park at MacNamara Landing, follow the beginner trail East and then North around the pond. About halfway up the pond you'll see, on the right-hand side, crunched-down bushes where the tractor made a trail into where the bridges have been made, about 50 feet East of the beginner trail.

I'd guess the bridges are 300 yards NorthEast of the MacNamara parking lot, inside the forested area that always gets standing water each year.

Thanks Reid. This is just the info that I needed.

[reidabel]

Glad that helped. I just got back from a little bit of work on Hellboy and rode these new bridges both ways. Pretty cool - they are narrow enough and high enough off the ground that they require concentration and generate excitement (a.k.a. fear of going off the side). Fitting for an advanced mtb trail! It wasn't as scary the second time, but like Jeff said, it should be quite the thrill when there's water on both sides. Especially if there is enough water that they are floating

[mjpo]

Glad that helped. I just got back from a little bit of work on Hellboy and rode these new bridges both ways. Pretty cool - they are narrow enough and high enough off the ground that they require concentration and generate excitement (a.k.a. fear of going off the side). Fitting for an advanced mtb trail! It wasn't as scary the second time, but like Jeff said, it should be quite the thrill when there's water on both sides. Especially if there is enough water that they are floating

I just noticed the last line of this comment. If there is ever enough water out there that these things float, we have much bigger things to worry about! That being said, I wouldn't use this design closer to the river - where water flows during the flood and subsequent receeding. I think the flow, not the depth of water is what continuously killed the old bridges at Swamp Thing.

[jake]

Need to attached the bridges to 55 gal drums and tether them into place. That way they will float, but not float away. Then we could ride in the early spring.