TRAIL MAINTENANCE

    I know its short notice but we need to get things going because with all the activities going on over the summer it seems to get short.  PRRs' club house addition has been started with the radiant tubing and concrete, now we need to get some volunteers together to help build it.  We are looking for anyone really, from cleanup help, and cooks, to Carpenters, electricians, and Plumbers.

    I will be there as well as hopefully a few other Carpenters to help keep things going in the right direction, so even if its not your day job we could still use your help.  There will also be other scheduled work party dates throughout the summer to help with the construction.

    I have decided to offer one of my Cabins for the weekend FREE for ANYONE helping with the work party. The Cabin will accommodate up to 10 people.  We can really use your help to get this building and the roof on our existing clubhouse finished before winter.

    Please call or e mail to reserve a spot in the Cabin.

A Path Less Traveled
www.northwoodsgetaway.com
rentals@northwoodsgetaway.com
(603) 538-7702

Keith

In early November 2001 the logging bridge across the Connecticut River on the Carr Ridge trail was dismantled.  This bridge was built about 20 years ago by the club and had suffered the ravages of time.  The old log cribbed and dirt filled abutments had reached their end of life.  The bridge was disassembled, saving the steel support beams and then replacing the old abutments with new reinforced concrete ones.

This picture shows the new abutments ready to receive the steel beams.

Here is the crane that did all the heavy lifting and saved a lot of time and manual labor.  From the time the crane lifted the first beam until the last one was set into place was only 45 minutes!  It is amazing what can be done when the right equipment is available to handle the job.

The first beam going into place.  That beam is 68 feet long and weighs about 7 tons!

The first beam safely in place.

All beams in place ready for the decking.  The small beam at the right is for the addition of a pedestrian walk way.

Steve Kiley on the left with the sledge hammer, Bob Eastman in front of his excavator, Sandy Young, and Bob Buswell getting the 4" X 6" decking timbers in the proper place.

Here is all of the decking in the proper place and screwed down.  All that remains is to lay down the planking and put on the railings.   This bridge should now last for at least 30 years.  The only maintenance should be replacing the decking when needed.

It took me awhile (this picture was taken January 5, 2003) to get the completed picture of the bridge, but better late than never.  As you can see it is quite a substantial bridge and should provide many years of service.