…..the Bridge is done.
It holds. We have crossed it safely. It doesn’t protest nearly as much with the full arch decked. The boards being all on a curve, it seems to help distribute force—we hope. We are taking suggestions under advisement, and we are going to be studying what we could do to help the thing be a little less—iffy—but we have to think about this. Fir is springy. We have established that. Whether it is safely springy–well, we will find out.
Between the two of us, we push 400 lbs hard, and we were both on it at once. We do not want to do a tapdance on the same board. But we sat there splashing our feet in cool water on an 83 degree afternoon, with the fishes all down at the far end wondering what sort of goings-on this meant!
(Assuming that I understand the situation correctly) If the springiness bothers you, you could consider adding cables with turnbuckles as bottom chord tension members at the bottom of each arch. It might take a little thought to figure out how best to anchor the cables to ends of the wood arches.
From the very few pictures that I have seen of the project, it looks like you are looking at a relatively long span and kinda thin girders. Deflection and long term performance may or may not be issues. Don’t forget that you may want to invite company over, and you all might want to stand on the bridge to admire the koi.
I thought it was an anti-eagle bridge – not meant for actual usage? At any rate – good job done well.
Heheh, I bet the eagle, whose opinion was not solicited, has some choice comments.
Anti-Aquiline? Counter-Aquiline?
Oh, wait, got it. It’s a dis-aquili-fying bridge.
Ahem. Yes, I shall be properly contrite.
You know, in college, I was the sole English / foreign language / computer science type among a horde of engineering majors. Their idea of fun, other than girls and beer and football, was to throw engineering problems at each other and debate the calculus and physics of the loads.
So what you need is a handy helpful engineering student to look at your bridge, analyze it, and determine what, if anything, should be done to sturdy the bridge as you want it, while maintaining a Japanese or atevi feel to the design. A sufficient amount of beer and pizza should ensure an equitable trade. One notes there were a few highly competent women among those undergrads. However, you might find the guys, ah, scenic.
Also, at least one such engineer is the one who loaned me Pride of Chanur and Downbelow Station.
If there should not be a conveniently large sample of eager engr. Undergrads, there are probably several who *cough* actually graduated and uh, y’know, build things here and at Jane’s blog and Shejidan.
At least it is worth pont-ering. …Okay, I went too far with that last pun. :snicker:
Oh, pray continue to pontificate! 😀
Or pontoonficate ?
You are spreading a virus, BCS!
Keep it up, BCS, you’ll end up in the pun-itentary!
Are the fishies showing more calm — or showing themselves, period — now that they have more shelter? Or are they still cowering in the deep end?
Actually the fish are starting to appear at the shallow end and eat normally again…this is good to see.
What a beautiful, peaceful scene. Good for the soul. Enjoy.
~ Congratulations on a job well done. ~
cherryhfan has it right. A place to breathe and refresh the soul. It is lovely.
We can be stressed to the max, and sitting by the waterfall and feeding the fish will lower the blood pressure a guaranteed 10 points.
It looks lovely! If ponds weren’t so much work, I’d be tempted to one for my rather over-the-top blood preassure problems! I guess I’ll just have to settle for time with the kitty boys.
Bridge and landscaping all look peaceful and very much put together. Love seeing Jane’s pix, both for the projects and how well you both look. HUZZAH!!
@zette: if you don’t have the energy for pond or pool (and believe me you don’t want them unless you enjoy messing around in water every day), how about a small fountain and goldfish pool that could go in your yard or on a deck or even in a living space?
zette – As mentioned, you can easily do smallish tub water gardens without mush muss and fuss! I’ve got a couple using those tubs with rope handles that they sell at hardware stores…they hold roughly 30 gallons. A few small goldfish (like 2-3), enough water plants to balance the bioload and you are all set. Because I don’t have power access right now to my patio area, I don’t do filtration or have moving water but I rarely have to deal with green water and the goldfish even breed in these tubs. I have a black iron folding chair with small table next to one on the patio with some potted Japanese maples around and some potted tuberous begonias for color. Relaxing! This is in western WA and I leave the goldfish out all year.
This is an interesting article on creating a “water feature” out of plants. I’m not sure it would have quite the same affect, although if you used something like grass, you would still get the ripply affect.
http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Gardening/diggin-it/2011/0625/A-small-water-feature-makes-a-big-impact-with-the-right-plants