by Karen Klos
The second stage of the Animal Farm Bridge project took place on Saturday, May 10, along the Baker Trail at Coal Bank Road, Gilpin Township, Armstrong County. This stage began before the arrival of materials or volunteers. The bridge was designed and engineered by project manager Keith W. Klos. All the lumber was precut, predrilled, marked for final assembly, and transported from his home.
At 9 AM sharp, the trailer backed in while the volunteer group consisting of Joyce Appel, Joe Kulbacki, Patti Huston, Joe Kostka, Dwight Fox, Donna Stolz, Tom Tefft, Kay Thompson, Dave Galbreath, Dewaine Beard, Steve Mentzer, Keith Klos, and Patty Brunner. = eagerly looked on. This hard-working crew, including some who traveled from as far as Ohio and Pittsburgh, endured muddy conditions and intermittent rain as they unloaded the vehicle and organized the lumber and other materials. Afterward, Keith went over the assembly procedure and gave a safety discussion.
Two tripods were set up, one at each end, over an approximately 30-foot gully. A winch grip hoist was used, and a high line was used to carry the spans across the creek. The center span was about 300 pounds; the outer spans were over 400 pounds each. The center beam was set via the grip hoist and onto the pins installed several weeks earlier. Once assembled on the near side, the spans were picked up by the high line and pulled across the creek. The bridge was aligned. It had a 36-foot span using three 2 10 stringers made of treated lumber. Each span was three 2 10s bolted together; the longest single board was 20 feet long. Railings were 4 4 uprights with three rails along the sides. Self-supporting stress spans were on the outside, while the center span had a tension cable underneath. While the crew assembled the spans, about five crew members stabilized the stream bed using a gabion basket (riprap wire box), diverting the water from the retaining wall by clearing out the foundation area. The gabion basket was placed into the water, and the crew began filling it with stones. To reduce erosion on the worst side of the creek and add support, the crew stabilized the hillside by filling the area with tamped stones behind the cage and added protection to the cage by building up the area in front of the cage with large rocks.
Around 2 PM, the crew broke for lunch, a feast consisting of turkey, ham, cheese, homemade rolls, potato salad, chips, cookies, banana bars, brownies, and strawberries. With lunch came a surprise—a lit birthday cake, with the crew singing “Happy Birthday” to Paul Henry. After lunch the work on the bridge continued; around 5 PM, the crew voted on whether to continue, and with unanimous agreement, they worked on. The job of laying and securing the foot tread took about 1-1/2 hours. Two people put screws and washers into the boards, one person took them to the work area, another set up the spacers, and another screwed down the board. The two side/handrails were reassembled onsite following Keith’s guidelines. The precision of the crew working in tandem was amazing. Patty Brunner delivered pizza to reinvigorate the crew. Even though it was still raining, they went back to work in way too much mud! Finally they put the last deck board in place around 8:30 PM, cleaned up, and left a half hour later.
The Harmony Trails Council chose to adopt the Baker Trail and the Rachel Carson Trail, thereby expanding its mission. At the same time, the Council voted to change its name to the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy to better reflect its broader mission. The Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy is a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization dedicated to the development, protection, and promotion of trails throughout western Pennsylvania.
The eighteenth annual Rachel Carson Trail Challenge will take place on June 21, 2014, on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The Challenge is a 34-mile-long, one-day, sunrise-to-sunset endurance hike on nearly the entire brutal Rachel Carson Trail. Unlike a footrace, the “challenge” is not to win but endure—to finish the hike in one day. This time, the Challenge starts in Harrison Hills Park at sunrise, 5:50 AM, and ends 34 miles later in North Park. The deadline for finishing is sunset, 8:54 PM or 15 hours, 4 minutes, whichever comes first. The Baker Trail Ultra Challenge is a 50-mile ultra marathon on the Baker Trail. Unlike the Rachel Carson Trail Challenge, this is a footrace; the “challenge” is for you or your relay team to win or at least finish within 14 hours! The next Ultra Challenge is set for Saturday, August 23, 2014. The race starts at 6:30 AM; the deadline for finishing is 8:30 PM. Individuals as well as relay teams of up to five members may register. For more information, go to www.rachelcarsontrails.org.