Hey Mo –

I think I know the portfolios of which you speak. Say hey for me.

You’ve got the idea, spacer blocks to allow air flow so any moisture that does get through can readily evaporate, so it needn’t sit there to be wicked into wood grain.

If you look at that photo again, you’ll see breather blocks sitting on the granite pedestal, separating the bolsters ( the paired beams cantilevered beyond the abutments backwall ) from it, which are themselves separated from the chords by the graduated blocks. ( white oak all )

If you look closer still, you see the 2 X 3 nailer applied to the outer chord lam, this is in place to provide ample breathing space betwixt the chord and the vertical siding. Though you can’t tell from the angle from which that shot was taken, the nailer itself is also separated from the lam by ½” packing pieces.

A running theme. To both help deal with the inevitable leaks, and maximize service life. And just plain part of good practice when it comes to bridgework

Here’s a shot of a set of bolsters coming out from under another bridge for replacement, notice some of the same details, and how they’ve helped preserve it – Note also how it was built dead level, without any camber, this is common to such RR Bridges.




Funny that you mention a glossary, I’ve added a number of bridge specific terms to the Guild Wiki, and Jim and I have traded e-mails discussing bridge glossaries. ( he and I having both been bitten by the research bug ) There is no really good one out there, the CB specific ones are a little cursory, and often written by those deeply interested, but, all the same, by folks who lack deep technical knowledge, and these are also just very slight variations of one another. The rest of what’s out there, is clouded by terminology common to ( though much is shared ) other bridge types. There is no good link I’d like to post here, I will zap you something direct. You’ll have to do a little wading though.


And to get back to the threads theme, the senseless loss front, Girard has just awarded a contract for the removal and demolition of the Gudgeonville, seemingly without plan or stipulation that details of it’s construction, might really should be recorded before the ripping begins - http://yourerie.com/content/fulltext/?cid=39881