i""'II --.

. - ~

.

:J

.

:

~~jTimber Bridp lDformation Rao Center .

Editor - Tinathan Coger

Timber Bridge Design AwardsAnnounceda he special task group on tim-ber bridges has announced the

winners of the nation's second 1992

National Engineering Timber BridgeDesign Award Competition.

The judges for the 1992 competitionwere Mike Ritter, USDA Forest Prod-ucts Laboratory, M. G. Patel, Pennsyl-vania Department of Transportation,Ed Tice, Appanoose County, Iowa, andTom Williamson, American Wood Sys-

,

1

terns.~

The Timber Bridge Awards Programwas sponsored by the American Forestand Paper Association's (AFP A) Spe-cial Task Group on Timber bridges.Financial support of this program wasprovided by the USDA Forest Service,American Forest and Paper Associa-tion, Southern Forest Products Asso-ciation, American Institute of TimberConstruction, American Wood Systems,Western Wood Preservers Institute,Trus Joist MacMillan, and WesternWood Structures.

Awards were presented to eleven out-standing bridges.

Listed, beginning on page 2 are thecategories and the respective winners.

, ,.".

~

Issue 15 February 1994

Update on Timber BridgesFiscal Year 1992 through November 1993

II under the Timber Bridge. Initiative, States aredeveloping Timber Bridge Programs, and adopt-

ing initiatives that suit their individual needs. Thefollowing is an update on various State's activities fromFiscal Year 1992 through November 1993.

Alaska: The University of Alaska, at Fairbanks, istesting methods to enhance the double diffusion pro-cess for white spruce. In connection with this researchthe state is promoting the use of white spruce in timberbridges.

Two tested processes have shown promise for improv-ing treatment. In one procedure the timbers are wrappedafter immersion. This slows the drying process, andallows the diffusion process to continue, which allowsbetter penetration of chemicals. The second processtested uses ultrasonic waves to increase chemical pen-etration. When the success of these processes is varified,the results will be published.

Colorado and Louisiana: Engineering Data Manage-ment, of Colorado, in conjunction with the LouisianaDepartment of Transportation and Development, de-termined the length and soundness of piles by usingstress wave propagation. The areas where piles wearmost, from scour and/or rot, are readily identified inthis process. A publication is available.

Illinois: For several years, the Illinios Department ofTransportation's program on rural bridges has pro-vided funds to assist counties in the replacement of localstate bridges. These funds may be used to match federalgrant funds such as the USDA Timber Bridge Initiativeor the FHw A Timber Bridge Initiative.

Timber Bridge Design AwardsAnnounced...continued from page1

Pedestrian Light Vehicular Bridge

First Place:

Taidnapam Park Bridge, Morton, Wash-ington. This bridge design features a series offive glulam stringer sections, supported by foursteel towers. Two sections are cantilevered

over supports. One end of the bridge drops sixfeet to meet an existing abutment. The bridgerails are sawn lumber, and the deck is 4 inchthick stnlctural concrete.

Award of Merit:Bird Sanctuary Bridge (Izumi-No-Mori

Midori-No-Kakehashi), Yamoto, Japan. Thebridge features two oriental style glulam tow-ers that support a glulam stringer and decksystem for the 90-foot center span and ap-proach spans. Also included is a long glulamboardwalk, water wheel and two viewing plat-forms.

Long Span Vehicular Bridges

First Place:

Eagle River Bridge, Eagle River, Michi-gan. This 152 foot long structure is supportedby twin glulam arches having a clear span ofapproximately 75 feet. The center of the threehinged arch configuration rises some 45 feetabove the river. Seven pier bents support trans-verse floor beams, which in turn support thelongitudinal stringers and transverse deck sys-tems.

Award of Merit:Grand Lake Bridge, Grand Lake, Colo-

rado. This arch bridge has a clear span of over110 feet. It is a pinned glulam arch structurewith two traffice lanes and a cantilevered walk-

way. The arches are pressure treated SouthernPine. The beams are Douglas Fir, incised andfabricated before pressure treatment. Steel rods,suspended from the glulam arches, support theglulam beams and deck panels.

Wye Narrows Bridge, Queen Annes County,Maryland. This 702 foot bridge design called foran all timber superstructure, timber pilings, and \a dowel laminated panelized deck system.

Short Span Vehicular Bridges

First Place:

Deibler Road Bridge, over Spruce Creek,Ferguson Township, Pennsylvania. This bridgeis 37'-10" long and 29'-6" wide. The glued lami-nated stringers support transverse glula:qt deckpanels.

Award of Merit:Sunnyside Road Bridge over West River,

Italy, New York. The bridge is a two lane, threespan bridge with a length of 83 feet and a widthof 25 feet.

East Avenue Bridge over LimestoneCreek, Manlius, New York. This 72-foot longglulam bridge features a superstructure usingglulam timber beams and a transverse glulamdeck, new abutments and wingwalls, a modernwearing surface, and timber curb and guardrailsystem. 0Rehabilitation of Existing Bridges

First Place:

Axe Handle Road Covered Bridge, UnionCounty, Ohio. The main arches of this bridgeare nail laminated from machine stress rated

lumber. Longitudinal glulam deck panels weresuspended from galvanized rods. New floorbeams were also glulams. Tongue and groovedlumber flooring was laid transversely for thefinal wearing surface to complete the job.

Award of Merit:Ashbrook Road Covered Bridge, Canal

Winchester, Ohio. The rehabilitation of thisbridge required skilled, oldfashioned craftsman-ship. This skills included splicing new timbersto old framing, epoxy grouting to seal cracks,and replacing damaged blocking, truss mem-bers, bracing and floor beams. New siding isSouthern pine, and a new shake roof was added. J

Continued on page 3

Timber Bridge Design AwardsAnnounced...continued from page2

Crooked River Arm Bridge, Culver, Or-egon. This 464 foot suspension span requiredapproximately 136,000 board feet of industrialappearance glulam deck panels. The materialwas pressure treated with 0.4 pcf of Pentachlo-rophenol preservative treatment in a Type Acarrier.

For more information, write: American Forestand Paper Association, 1250 Connecticut Av-enueNW, Washington, DC 20036. Phone: 202-463-2700.

Update on Timber Bridges...continued from page 1

Iowa: This state is proceeding with the devel-opment of standard design plans for demon-stration timber bridges built with cottonwood.The fabrication plans are near completion. Iowais developing a timber infrastructure networkto support manufacture and fabrication of tim-ber bridges.

Kansas: In eastern Kansas, the Lake RegionRC&D Council is installing two drop box spill-way structures to reduce erosion. Emphasis isplaced on using readily available timber fromlocal merchants to build energy dissipatingdrop structures. They will use both CCA andcreosote treated materials.

Maine: Maine recently passed a bill to fund a""

I

$700,000 timber bridge program. Research

Q projects are designated to receive $300,000.The remaining $400,000 will be used for dem-onstration timber bridges.

Massachusetts: A $1,500,000 bond was passedto support a Timber Bridge Program in Massa-chusetts. It will fund demonstration timber

bridges in State Forest and State Park systems.This resulted from the efforts of the state legis-lature community development groups, indus-try and the State Forester's Office.

The Massachusetts Division of Forests and Parks

is involved in a marketing study to increase theacceptability of timber for short span bridgesand related rural road applications.

Michigan: The Huron Pines RC&D Council,Inc. is evaluating the potential for manufactur-ing and marketing modern timber bridges to aidMichigan's efforts to rebuild its transportationinfrastructure.

Mississippi: Now in the process of developingtheir10 year legislation for a bridge rehabilita-tion or replacement initiative. The Mississippistate legislature proposed $300,000,000 for theirbridge replacement program. Considerationshall be given to utilizing timber products onsome projects, provided that projects using tim-ber will be comparable in cost to those usingother materials, while meeting current bridgedesign standards.

New Hampshire: The North Country RC&DArea, Inc. is developing design standards forbinwall retaining structures, and evaluating thefuture market for sales of these products.

N ew York: The Greater Adirondack RC&D

Council is developing plans and specificationsfor a timber binwall that will stabilize soils

subject to erosion or movement. When com-pleted the plans will be standardized for thestate department of transportation.

Allegheny County has its own timber bridgeprogram for fabricating and installing timberbridges.

Ohio: With the assistance of John Smolen, TBIRCis developing a case study to describe AshtabulaCounty's timber bridge program. Work there isaccomplished by county crews, and the studywill include resourceful ways that the county

Continuedonpage 4

Update on Timber Bridges...continued from page 3has attempted to achieve optimum use of itsmaterials and equipment. The county crewsperform most of this program work duringslack winter periods. Timber bridges are onearea where Ashtabula County has been suc-cessful.

Oregon: Oregon's Department of Transporta-tion with the Wood Products Center has an

engineer skilled in timber design. They pro-vide direct technical assistance and informa-

tion on modern timber bridge designs, specifi-cations, etc. to counties throughout the state.

Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Wood Indus-try Association is evaluating red maple as struc-tural timber for bridges in the hardwood states,particularly in Pennsylvania. The study fo-cuses on structural yield and costs for produc-ing structural grade timber for bridges, takinginto account development of the expertiseneeded.

Vermont: The Vermont Agency of Transporta-tion working with the VT Department of For-estry and RC&Ds has designed a timber binwallthat will allow most timber species native toVermont to be used in binwall construction. A

conference was held in March 1992 on designand use of timber binwalls, and a Timber BridgeSpecial Project Grant has been approved forVermont to build a demonstration timber re-

taining wall at Arlington, VT. This project, andu

Article contrioutiqns, questio1isA. Coger, Assist,or 304-285 FAX: 3~

The policycolor, nati<

apply to(braille, I.7808 (TD

To file a CI

720-7327 (

information gained from it, should result indesigns that will allow binwalls to be constructed

I

I'nationwide from locally native timber species. VVirginia: Virginia is in the process of installing7 demonstration bridges. Two more demon-stration bridges scheduled for next year, bringthe total to 9.

The Center for Forest Products Marketing, atVirginia Poly technical Institute and State Uni-versity, is studying the tendency to adopt newtimber bridge technology, its effect on the tim-ber bridge market, and its effect on rural eco-nomic development. The study is intended toevaluate barriers to adoption, develop strate-gies to overcome these barriers and to identifythe most promising market segments.

West Virginia: The Constructed Facilities Cen-ter of West Virginia University is developing amanual for designing and load rating ModernStressed Timber Bridges, supporting moderntimber bridge technology developed throughthe Timber Bridge Initiative. The manual willinclude a step-by-step design and load ratingprocess that can be in field use with minimumtraining for inspectors.

JWisconsin: The Wisconsin Resource Conserva-

tion and Development Council is conducting astudy to identify the potential market demandfor timber bridges.

{J