If you come across the new bridge on Willow Creek, you might wonder how it got there. This is the story of how it came about. This story began when Maryann Gaug, local guidebook author, got tired of the failing bridge on Willow Creek. She generously donated funds to ESWA to build a new bridge.
This, being a bridge in the Eagles Nest Wilderness, is a big deal since no mechanical devices can be used in congressionally protected Wilderness Areas – no power tools or power or wheeled transport – so all the work needed to be done by hand. Consequently, a great deal of planning was required. For nearly a year, the ESWA Trails team and the USFS leads discussed a plan for building the new bridge.
During the summer of 2023, USFS’ Tyler Kirkpatrick and ESWA’s Dave Brewster hiked to the
location to look at the failing bridge. Not only had the bridge collapsed, but it had been replaced by some vigilante conservators who had endeavored to construct a bridge from three heavy logs, loosely nailed together.
Like for everything else, the USFS has standards for bridges.
Needless to say, the vigilante bridge didn’t come close to the safety standards. Many hikers were nervous to cross it, some turned back, a few crawled across, while others had dogs who refused to go on the bridge and so their owners carried them!
During this visit, Tyler and team took the measurements and planned a bridge that would meet USFS standards. In March, ESWA and USFS came up with a joint plan for the new bridge. A significant challenge was that the bridge needed to allow for horse traffic, which required 6-foot approaches and extra-strong construction. The bridge would span 20 some feet, with decking adequate for horse travel.
Having received the generous grant from Maryann, the first step in April/May 2024 was to order the materials. The list included:
2 – 4”x12” 28-foot treated lumber - stringers
8 - 4”x12” 20-foot treated lumber – decking that people walk on
23 – 8”x8” 12-foot treated lumber – approach/landing stringers
6 – 4”x4” 10-foot treated (incised) Lumber - bull rail
9 - 2”x12” -10- fot Lumber – runners for the decking
1 - 2”x4”10-foot treated cedar tone – bull rail
1 - 3/8” x 8” bright smooth spikes (50 pound) – spikes for the decking
Next, we scheduled a period of time for building the bridge, a two-week project. This would be a joint effort between USFS workers, including some seasonal employees. Note that this type of complex trail improvement work is just one of the valuable roles that USFS seasonal employees fill, and current plans to cut funding for seasonal employees would provide a great loss to maintaining and improving our Wilderness trails.
The project would work as a training session for these teams who would build five more bridges over the summer. ESWA would also provide some volunteers, or “unskilled muscle “.
The first stage of the work was to clear the way. ESWA Sawyer teams went to work on this, as well as on the Meadow Creek trail, where a second bridge in the Wilderness would be built.
On the route to both bridges considerable downfall blocked the route. All the materials – lumber, rebar, tools – had to be carried up the trail. The fallen trees would double the work. So the ESWA Sawyer teams went out in early June and cleared those logs. On the Meadow Creek trail, a pack train would be used to bring up the materials, so the trail had to be cleared extra wide to make way for the horses.
As mentioned earlier, the vigilante bridge was only three logs. The new bridge was to be wider, and sturdy enough for horses. So, it would need substantial lumber, and also have 6-foot approaches that stepped up to the level of the bridge.
The work began with the effort to take the lumber, rebar, and tools up to the location of the
bridge. There was a substantial amount of materials -- probably a thousand pounds – and all
had to be carried by hand 1 ½ miles up from the parking area.
If you’re familiar with the Willow Creek trail, you will remember that it winds up some steep
portions along the hillside, then it takes sharp turns as it goes along the creek. At some points, it slopes steeply to the left, falling into the creek. In June, the creek was high and at one point -- a sideways slanting steep worn section --the trail dipped under water.
Nevertheless, the work crew of 10 USFS workers carried all the lumber to the site. Each of the long stringers required all 10 workers to carry them up. All in all, the transport took nearly two days.
They were ready to get to work.
The USFS team began by marking the locations of the bridge and building a log base. They
strung an orange string across the river to guide the location of the stringers. And put the
stringers across the way.
Meanwhile, they began breaking up rocks to use as a foundation.
The span was made of stringers set across the stream with end caps. These were all secured
with bolts.
The lumber that formed the foundation were set with rebar, holes for which had to be drilled by hand, and pounded in with a sledgehammer.
Treated lumber was used to make the walls of the approaches that would be filled later.
The planks were placed across the stringers and fastened with bolts. Again, the holes were
drilled by hand, and the bolts screwed in by hand.
Meanwhile, it was time to start on the approaches. These had to be secured into the ground
with rebar. Drilling and pounding each rebar was substantial work.
And the approaches would have to be filled, so volunteers scoured the nearby woods for
boulders for the inside and outside of the approaches. The climbed the hillsides, rolled boulders down (careful not to roll them onto each other). And one by one carried the boulders to the approaches.
Oh, but the boulders weren’t going to stay boulders. They had to be crushed into large gravel. So, volunteers worked for days with sledgehammers to break up the boulders.
This was dangerous work; rock would be flying here and there, often hitting the crusher or
bystanders with shards of flying rock. Wearing protective gear – helmets and safety glasses -- is critical. And that’s whether you’re doing the work or standing nearby!
All the while this work was underway, hikers were coming by using the old bridge. Some were quite good at crossing, but others were terrified by the old bridge, and it made us glad the new one was underway.
Eventually the planks were all down and edges added and screwed into place. The new bridge was looking beautiful.
Just then we found we had to put a second layer of planks on the bridge. They ruined the
aesthetic!
It turns out that these bridges can last 20-30 years if built properly. One thing that extends the lifetime is preserving the tread surface. So, this second set of planks are there to be
replaceable. They will wear down, without compromising the structure of the bridge. They can easily be replaced several times before the bridge wears out (“easily” that is if you think using non-power tools to unscrew and re-install the planks is easy). Each of the planks had at least nine screws hand screwed into the lower planks. This layer is generally only used on equestrian bridges to protect the planking from horses’ hooves. There used to be an equestrian center in neighboring Ruby Ranch so horses were frequently ridden on the Willow Creek Trails.
Meanwhile, other workers began looking at how to decommission the vigilante bridge. The three logs weren’t just lying there. Long spikes and a couple of metal straps were holding them together. Intrepid volunteers began working on removing those.
It took a long time to loosen the three tree trunks, but once loose, the teams had another
conundrum. How do you get them out?
The logs were waterlogged and very heavy. The team had a long discussion of approaches.
Cut them in two and pull them to each side? Somehow pull them across the stream? Both
solutions had the downside that if we lost control of the logs, the fast-moving stream would flush them under the new bridge and possibly tear it down!
So, we decided to lift them onto the new bridge. Each was a challenge. The main log was some 12 inches in diameter and heavy. It took the entire team of nine people to lift the log with straps up onto the bridge. Then it also took 3 or 4 short carries to get the behemoth off the bridge, turn it 90 degrees, and drag it into the woods.
One extra annoyance was the hardware that held the old bridge together. It’s against
regulations to leave metal in the Wilderness, so things we couldn’t get out had to be sawed off and carried out.
After the boulders had been pounded into small rocks that could be leveled into the approaches, these approaches had to be covered by “Mineral Soil.” So for most of the time that others were working on the bridge, two people were in a barrow pit digging for Mineral Soil.
The first layer of dirt in the woods has organics, the peat that is left over from decaying leaves, plants, and trees. Below is soil without organics, and what is what we needed.
The diggers, over the course of the week, dug a hole about eight feet long, five feet wide, and four feet deep. One person would be in the hole digging dirt and putting it into canvas bags. The other person would carry the bags to a large pile by the approaches and dump it there.
Once the rocks were ready, this mineral soil was put on the top, tamped down, and leveled.
In the Wilderness, everything is done by hand: planks sawed, holes drilled, rebar hammered, 8- inch bolts screwed.
Drilling required a hand drill that had to be pressed and turned at the same time – 10 minutes of work for each of the holes. Then screwing each of the bolts with a rachet (we debated if that was allowed in the Wilderness, being a mechanical item) took five minutes or so.
Once the bridge was done and the approaches ready, there was still work to put rocks by the
base of the bridge, and to form the water flow so it wouldn’t undercut the bridge.
It was great to see the first hikers crossing the bridge. We celebrated with non-alcoholic champagne and took a picture on the bridge.
The bridge was done but the work was far from done. The work area, and where we had put the old bridge, had to be set back to nature. Also, the barrow pit had to be filled.
Workers gathered logs and branches and filled the barrow pit so nothing would get trapped in it.
Brush and leaves were gathered to cover up all the work and prep areas.
Then we had to get ready to leave. All the tools had to be carried out. The logs with metal from the old bridge carried out. And even some lumber that wasn’t used was carried out. One piece of lumber took two guys to carry, and they had to rest every hundred feet.
Later the team went up with Maryann to show her the work she had financed. We remarked at how quickly the new bridge looked weathered, and rejoiced that the bridge would provide sustainable access into the Eagles Nest Wilderness for years to come.
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