Adding a bridge to your property can be an affordable upgrade that will greatly improve the accessibility of the property. In particular, timber bridges can be a popular option that will provide you with an attractive, strong, and durable bridge for use on your property.

Determine Whether Vehicles Will Need to Travel Over the Bridge

During the early stages of the bridge-building project, you will have a series of design choices that will have to be made. More specifically, you will need to assess whether the bridge will need to be strong enough to support the weight of vehicles that may pass over it. In addition to cars and trucks, there are other smaller vehicles that may also need to travel over the bridge. If the bridge is not designed with these vehicles in mind, there will be a much greater risk of the bridge failing or suffering significant damage as a result of this usage. This is true even for fairly small ATVs as these vehicles can still weigh hundreds of pounds, and the speed that they drive over the bridge could cause vibrations that may cause stability problems for the bridge.

Ensure the Bridge Is Properly Anchored

Quality is essential during the construction of the bridge, as mistakes during the building process could increase the chances that the bridge will suffer a potentially catastrophic failure that could lead to injuries and expensive repairs. While there are some individuals that may be prone to underestimating the complexity of building a bridge, these structures are surprisingly complicated. In particular, the anchors for the bridge will have to be properly installed if the structure is to remain as stable as possible despite experiencing intense usage. Unfortunately, securely placing the posts for the timber bridge can be a challenge when it is being installed over creek beds, drainage ditches, or other areas that will have a lot of water.

Periodically Assess the Condition of the Timber Bridge

Once the bridge has been installed, maintaining it will need to be taken seriously by the property owner. At a minimum, the bridge should be periodically inspected to make sure that it is not developing structural damages or issues that will have to be repaired. A common example of this could be the formation of rot on structurally important components or even supports and posts developing major cracks. If you were to notice questionable issues during your inspection, timber bridge contractors should be hired to assess the stability of the bridge and to complete any repairs before these problems can become worse.