ET4WD Monthly Trail Ride / Work Day - Bridge Crew
The bridge crew consisted of eleven SFWDA member from various clubs. We were assigned the task of inspecting the sixteen wooden bridges crossing small creeks, and performing minor repairs where needed. Prior to inspecting, mud had to be removed from the surface from every bridge. Most of the repairs involved hammering down existing spikes and adding others where needed. The bridge on Trail 7 over Peckerwood Creek, received six 2 x 10 treated boards to help reinforce the downstream side, which is continuing to sag over the years. Generally, all the bridges are in good to excellent condition, and should be serviceable for several more years. The work described, including travel time, totaled approximately 52 man-hours.
Bridge Crew Roster: Joe Smith, Joe Ankenbauer, Dave Owens, Joe Harper, Clay Shivers, Jesse Holland, Kyle Barth, Hal Hall, James Dollar, Jeremi Taylor, Lynn Tromba.
As the pictures show, there was a lot of hard labor involved. However, getting from bridge to bridge was more of a labor of love. The ledge at Peckerwood proved conquerable only with help from Mr. Warn and Mr. Ramsey. After supper, several club members decided to continue inspections of the remaining bridges on Trails 11 and 3. Thinking that it would not be acceptable to go backward on these trails and with failing daylight, it quickly turned into an infamous "night run" of Guardrail and Helicopter Pad for a Scout, Wrangler, F150 and a 4 Wheeler. The last picture shows a very tired bridge crew inspecting the first bridge on Trail 11 at 0100 hours on Sunday.
