EMMET CO., MI -- Would you feel safe with a 40-ton truck crossing the same wooden bridge as you?
The Emmet County Road Commission manager says you should.
In fact, wooden bridges may be a new trend in the future.
When you consider a road that has multi-ton trucks pass it on a daily basis, a wooden bridge wouldn't stand a chance, right? Think again.
"The beams are three feet thick so there's a lot of wood under there," explained Mark Lauer, the construction foreman of the new wooden bridge.
Since April, Pleasantview Road's Maple River crossing has been closed for construction of a new bridge made of wood. but way before this work began, heavy trucks were already being detoured because the culverts beneath the bridge were failing.
"They put weight limits on trucks that came across there, a lot of people had to go around, and with fuel prices, it costs extra money," said Lauer.
Ernie Spierling, owner of Spierling Truck and Excavation, knows all about that. He's crunched the numbers.
“It takes us extra time to go around, I have to send some of my trucks out early, and we spend about five dollars per truck more a day by going around," said Spierling.
The heaviest of heavy loads will be able to cross it once it's all done and the longevity of it is something for road commissions to consider. This bridge will last more than 100 years.
Wooden bridges might be thought of as a thing of the past, but they could be making a resurgence. This project was $100,000 cheaper than a new concrete crossing. It’s also more conservation-friendly, as fish will have clear access underneath it. And believe it or not, it'll last five-times longer. A bridge with steel culverts is only expected to survive 20 years. And in the last five years, the road commission has built three new wood bridges.
“I'll be glad when it's done, it just takes a lot more time every day," said Spierling.
The $350,000 bridge was funded by a grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Conservation Resource Alliance.
The wooden bridge will be paved in the next few days.
Emmet County Road Commission expects the bridge to be open by the end of next week.
