Building bridges in Westport

A wetlands crossing today, a bike path to the Cape tomorrow

by Christy Nadalin
Posted 6/27/18

When volunteers representing both the Westport Land Conservation Trust (WLCT) and South Coast Bikeway Alliance (SCBWA) met this weekend to learn the ins and outs of how to build a pair of bridges …

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Building bridges in Westport

A wetlands crossing today, a bike path to the Cape tomorrow

Posted

When volunteers representing both the Westport Land Conservation Trust (WLCT) and South Coast Bikeway Alliance (SCBWA) met this weekend to learn the ins and outs of how to build a pair of bridges over the wetlands in the Dunham's Brook Conservation Area, planners had an eye on the past, and an eye on the future.

For the WLCT, the bridges were key to providing pedestrian access to the 159 acres and 2.1 miles of trails at Dunham's Brook, and were one of the final steps to undoing the damage created by a developer who, over a decade ago, constructed culverts through the property in an effort to create a housing subdivision.

Until this weekend, hikers who wanted to access the cornfields, oak holly forest, and early successional habitat at Dunham's Brook — one of the largest freshwater tributaries to the west branch of the Westport River — had to face a wetland crossing, a natural result of the culverts being removed after the WLCT saved the property from development.

For the SCBWA, the bridge-building was an important learning experience that the group plans to use to execute its master plan: a 50-mile long bike path connecting Rhode Island to Cape Cod.

Enter professional trail builder Carl Demrow, from Peter S. Jensen and Associates LLC in Vermont, who ran the workshop and building project.

For two days, Friday and Saturday, June 22 and 23,

Demrow's Wetland Crossing Workshop covered the ins and outs of permitting, designing and building footbridges for pedestrian traffic over streams, wetlands and waterways.  

Participants then built the two 12-foot wooden

footbridges over Dunham’s Brook.

“We hope this project encourages hikers to explore the trails and get inspired by the beauty of Dunham’s Brook Conservation Area," said Ross Moran, WLCT’s executive director.

Noting the enthusiasm of Westport's newly-formed bikeway committee, Sandra Medeiros, the Dartmouth representative and executive committee member of the SCBWA, said the group is looking forward to taking the knowledge gained over the past weekend and apply it somewhere along the the South Coast Bikeway.

For more information on SCBWA's plan, visit www.southcoastbikeway.com. To find out more about the Westport Land Trust and Dunham's Brook Conservation Area, visit www.westportlandtrust.org. 

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