Green Hill

Footbridge

The client wished to cross to property that he owned on the brook’s far bank and asked us to insert a path and bridge in this delicate ecosystem. The difficult topography, limited access, and environmental sensitivity of the site led us to a solution for a bridge that would minimize its impact on the landscape during construction and into the future.

We conceived of the bridge as a continuation of the narrow access path that switchbacks across the steep grade from the client’s house and lawn.It is a slender, curving, 70-foot long plank of glue- and bolt-laminated southern yellow pine that spans from a natural gate formed by a large double tulip tree and an outcropping of ledge on the near bank. As it crosses high above the streambed and the remnants of a stone dam, it veers to avoid existing trees and to shift its axis and bearing. A pair of stainless steel pipes on pin connections spring from available exposed ledge to create two mid span supports. The bridge deck lands on a beam that cantilevers from deep footings in the soft soil of the far bank, providing an overlook to views down the gorge to the south.

Built by JIG.