The Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail needed a crossing over the Boone Fork Creek about one mile from the Price Lake Picnic Area. This is where the Mountains to Seas trail splits from the very popular Boone Fork Trail. The location for the bridge was selected at a point where rock outcroppings on either side of the Boone Fork Creek provided natural bridge supports which were about 80-feet apart. The ideal bridge type for this remote location was a Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bridge. The bridge, scaffolding and construction equipment was air-lifted to the project site with a helicopter. The abutments were constructed first. This involved chipping away three feet of rock at the east end to seat the abutments below a fissure in the rock. Next, the scaffolding was constructed under the full length of the bridge. After the abutments and scaffolding was in place the next step was to construct the bridge superstructure. The contractor was able to accomplish this in four days! Areté Structures provided the necessary construction documents and assembly instructions for the contractor to follow.
Design Criteria
- ASEC 7-10
- ASEC pre-standard for LRFD of pultruded FRP structures 2010
- Strongwell design Manual 2013
Design Loads
- Live loads = 60PSF
- Dead load = 38PSF
- Snow load = 30PSF
- Wind velocity = 110 MPH, Exposure B
Fabrication Process
Read about our FRP Manufacturing Process here.
Delivery
Concrete, construction equipment, and other heavier materials can be either lifted by helicopter or carried by hand to the construction site.
