EWB Imperial - building a log bridge in the woods

Last weekend members of EWB UK from Imperial College London came down for what's become an annual camping trip to our woodland. As always, there was a project to get involved with - this time building a bridge over a stream that can support a vehicle! During previous visits they built a firewood shelter and a foot bridge, so this year was a step up in scale.

I made a timelapse video of most of the bridge building, it's about 7 mins long (it's in 1080p HD, so put it full-screen). Take a look, and then read the rest of the post to see the pictures and description.

Here's the full team that came down this year:

The bridge is needed to allow access to a new ride that I cut last winter. I saved some of the stems I'd cut to make parts of the bridge, and we felled a few others as required to complete it. The first steps were digging some foundations, which took quite a while:

and peeling the long logs that were going to be used as the main supports:

We put some chunky logs into ditches that had been dug on each side of the stream:

and then got the main supports in place, bolting them down later on:

In the centre of the stream we also drove in some stakes (see the timelapse video above), and I used the chainsaw to cut a notch in the top of them for the main supports to rest in:

On top of the main supports went some crossbeams (all of this was Sweet Chestnut, by the way), and again I cut some notches for them to sit in:

Then there was a lot of drilling and nailing...

Some of it by hand:

though we did have a solar panel and inverter on hand to recharge the electric drill:

Once that was finished, it was time to start making the ramps to lead on and off the bridge and also lay down some planks (the only bit of wood that was bought in for this):

The planks were also nailed down, and it was starting to look like it might be OK to drive on...

Of course, there's a signature on the side of the bridge:

We posed for a photo or two:

and then it was time to put it to the test...

There were some creaking noises, but it was rock solid!

A job well done - thanks to everyone who came from EWB Imperial to help with this!

Mike

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Building a firewood store: part 2

Picking up from part 1, which ended with the firewood store at this stage:

The next job was to put some cross beams on top of the stakes, but first we had to peel them:

This actually makes quite a mess, so we decided we'd peel the roof slats at the wood before bringing them home.

Anyway, after peeling, the chestnut cross beams were a really nice white colour, though that quickly fades.

The cross beams were then drilled and nailed onto the stakes, ready to hold up the roof slats.

Here's a pile of slats for the roof, which we've cleaved from chestnut poles and then peeled:

We got them home using the roof bars on the car, which have proved very useful.

Before long, the roof was taking shape...

We also brought back a lot of hazel poles:

These were then woven between the stakes to make walls that will keep rain out while letting air pass through so that the wood can keep drying over time:

Going back to the roof slats though - the ends were often too thick to easily drill through to nail them down, so we used a side axe to shape each one of them:

This then left thinner ends that were much easier to work with:

OK, so here's the roof with all the slats on, and Tracy working on the final wall:

Inside it looks like this, with pallets used for the floor - this will keep the logs off the ground, and allow air to pass underneath, so stopping them from getting damp and rotting:

The store is actually separated into two bays by some shorter stakes, and we just zip-tied some more pallets to these to make a wall. The purpose of this is so that we can empty one bay first, then it can be refilled while the other bay is being used. This will make sure we are always burning hte oldest wood first.

Here's an overhead view:

And here it is with tarpaulins on the top:

These are just zip-tied down:

But then over the top of them went some roofing felt - and I also proved the roof is quite strong. You'll notice we ran out of hazel, and used some old fence panels to finish the wall on one side.

So here it is finished, with lots of logs stored. We've used pieces of perspex we had spare to add some more rain protection at the front, though I don't think they're really needed as the roof overhangs quite a bit.

We've been using wood out of the store for a few weeks now, and it's proved much better than the pile under a tarpaulin that we had to use last year!

Mike

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Engineers Without Borders build us a bridge!

Last weekend a group of students and graduates from Engineers Without Borders (who I know through my work at the Ashden Awards) came and camped in our wood, the aim being to have a bit of fun, do some team-building and build a bridge. Being engineers, they didn't just bring a normal tent - they had a geodesic dome they'd built themselves!
Here it is with the cover off:
They did have a couple of more conventional tents as well:
Anyway, like any camping trip a lot of time was just doing stuff like cooking:
and trying out new tools:
So, the bridge.... Well, here's the original bridge (over in Sweep Wood), which could only take one person at a time, and you had to be pretty steady on your feet!
We built this bridge about 18 months ago, but never really did enough to make it very good.

The engineers got to work testing scale models for a new one, some of which did not exactly inspire confidence!
But not to worry, designs were adapted for the types of wood and tools available, and we all set off back to the stream. A couple of chestnut stems were selected to provide 5m straight logs, and I felled them with the chainsaw. The nice bit was I didn't have to carry them anywhere, as I had a whole team of willing engineers! :-) They were soon installed across the stream:
Then posts were driven into the ground to secure them:
Someone came up with the idea of using split pieces of chestnut to make rungs:
and by the end of the first day the bridge was in a state to walk on, although not finished. Also, unlike the old bridge, it could take more than one person at a time:
The next day saw a lot of drilling and nailing of the rungs:
and by that afternoon the bridge was done, with the added feature of hand rails at two different heights!
I ran over some of the rungs with the chainsaw to roughen the surface so it doesn't get slippery in the rain:
and then everything was done.

I'm told everyone had a great weekend, and I'd like to thank everyone who came, and EWB-UK, for all their hard work! Some people worked so hard they fell asleep at lunchtime. Or perhaps that was to do with beer round the campfire the night before?
Mike

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