June 7, 2008

BRIDGE RENOVATION UPDATE

Ann Patton, Cliff Tompson and Cathy Gunther met with Tom Wellman on Thursday, June 5 at the bridge. He offered the following comments:

1. The floodplain at that site is in zone B (the upper square mile of the drainage area). Usually, when someone wants to build something in the floodplain in an upper square mile area, the City requires the builder to do a detailed study. However, I talked this over with my boss and since this is a replacement of a structure that has been in place many years and has not caused any problems, a detailed study is not necessary unless you have something radical in mind. IN SHORT - we can do a major renovation of the bridge without further permits or inspections.

2. Substantial reworking of the surrounding banks is not necessary, since the amount of erosion that the creek is demonstrating in those area is not that severe (For example, since there are small plants and trees all along the banks that were not disrupted by this very wet and stormy spring, it follows that there has not been an extreme amount of scouring, even during high-water seasons.) As a long-term erosion measure, he continues to recommend planting along banks of trees and shrubs with stabilizing root systems.

3. Tom recommended establishing new footings a few feet further back from the existing ones and clearing away debris that has fallen into the stream channel. He suggested that concrete is an economical and appropriate material for new footings. The new bridge will need to be approximately 4-5' longer than the existing one, but the design of the existing bridge is still suitable.

Based on this discussion, and on the previous bridge committee meeting (at which purchase of the MU timber bridge was declined), we recommend that existing funds in the treasury be used for purchase of materials (lumber, hardware, concrete), and that we organize a team of physically capable neighbors and appropriate equipment for us to renovate the bridge without employing any outside contractor.

Cliff Tompson has generated a preliminary design and estimates lumber costs at approx. $250. It was decided that Cliff, Lou Mazzacco and David Henderson will get together as an engineering team and come up with a more detailed design and work plan, as well as an estimate of costs. Upon completion of the plan, they will contact officers and the bridge committee to select a date for the project and to solicit workers to help.

Ideally, this project could be completed over the course of several days/weekends, hopefully during a period of drier weather (summer?). Early stages will require equipment for removing debris, for digging postholes, and for pouring some concrete. Bridge building could occur simultaneously at the site, since the majority of the bridge will be free-standing and subsequently installed on the footings (I think?).

Submitted by Cathy Gunther - Grounds Committee Chair
June 7, 2008