Stockmal Trail Bridge

Anthony and Luke carried the heavy beams down the trail

A narrow window of incredible weather for building a bridge in February! It rained the night before, and started raining in the afternoon, but for the morning work party it was warm and sunny. A good crew showed up and started lugging the wood and tools down the trail while Terry used some rocks to build an abutment for the lower side.

Jim receives the first beam from Terry, Mike and Sheri.

The wood used had been salvaged from previous projects, so the bridge didn't cost anything.

Lining up the beams

While the crew was working, Jill Stockmal Bennett stopped by. She owns the Stockmal property and her father, Bob Stockmal was one of the founding members of the Shelton Land Trust. The bridge would finally allow hikers to access the public hiking trail that leads through her property.

Jill, Jim, and Sheri level up the bridge

Once the two beams were leveled up, the decking needed to be screwed on. Luke and Anthony working on opposing sides of the bridge and met in the middle.

And there it is, another trail bridge. So much easier to get across now. The eastern approach is pretty lumpy and wet, but you can get across it (maybe a good Scout project there?)

Jill took the honor of being the first to cross the bridge, which seemed appropriate. Many thanks to everyone involved and to the Land Trust for allowing us to construct the trail across Willis Woods.

Jill walks across first

Nice Job!

Terry organized the work party