After weeks of planning and construction, the Wild Bunch, under the direction of master carpenter Bart Piccirillo, has finished building a new bridge, replacing a series of inundated stepstones. This one crosses Hockanum Brook below the beaver dam in Mendell’s Folly.
After constructing gabions, metal cages filled with stones that support the bridge on both shorelines, the trail crew floated the bridge support beams to the site via boat and carried bridge decking through the woods. To provide access to the bridge from the trail, the crew created wooden steps and stone ramps, pulling large stones from the brook using a rope and sling. Those hiking in Mendell’s can now walk across Hockanum Brook without the concerns of getting wet.
