Sustainable Trail Bridge Design

A new design for a simple, inexpensive short-span timber all-terrain vehicle (ATV) trail bridge is available. The design uses innovative ideas to increase the longevity and sustainability of the structure. This tech tip describes the features that increase longevity, provides construction details, and includes a sample drawing of a 12-foot bridge.

Property management of off-highway vehicle (OHV) trails is one of the most important tasks for trail managers today. Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulation Part 212.1, the Forest Service defines an OHV as any motor vehicle designed for or capable of cross-country travel on or immediately over land, water, sand, snow, ice, or marsh, swamp, or other natural terrain. In this report, off-highway vehicles, OVH, include everything from dirt bikes to swamp buggies, off-road vehicles, off-highway motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, utility-terrain vehicles, four-wheel drive vehicles, such as pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, and tracked vehicles. This illustrated report takes into consideration trail guidelines, fundamentals, assessments, management objectives, and layouts to reinforce the management framework presented to help OHV managers develop sustainable trails and protect the environment of surrounding trails. This framework provides a step-by-step approach to OHV trail management, incorporating sustainable design and management concepts with traditional trail management expertise and modern technological tools. Forest service and land management personnel, including farmers and ranchers that may utilize and manage multiple off-highway vehicles may be interested in this report. Other products related to this title that may be of interest include the following: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 36, Parks, Forests, and Public Property, Pt. 200-299, Revised as of July 1, 2015 can be found at this link: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/869-082-00142-9

Selecting the proper location for a bridge is as important as determining the characteristics of the bridge itself. This report discusses a commonsense approach, combined with science, to help select sustainable locations for bridges. Problems associated with bridge location and construction can be minimized by conducting a proper site investigation, paying attention to geomorphic indicators, knowing trail design needs, and understanding how streams and watersheds function. Channel classification provides a simple framework to help land managers understand the potential problems that may exist at bridge locations. An interdisciplinary approach is required to incorporate all the considerations involved in choosing the best bridge location for sustainability.

Ln this manual we have described the common techniques for building a wetland trail. We have also included information on some of the more unusual materials and tools.

From the leading conservation organization--the trail building and maintenance bible, now updated and expanded to meet new techniques and new realities of the 21st century. New chapters on arid lands restoration and involving conservation volunteers. The latest in effective management of work crews of all ages.

Sustainable design of infrastructures has become a major matter of study since the recent establishment of the Agenda 2030. This paper provides a systematic literature review on the use of multi-criteria decision making techniques used so far for the sustainable design of bridges. Special attention is put as well on how the reviewed studies assess the sustainable performance of bridge designs along their life cycle from the economic, the environmental and the social perspective. Although SAW and AHP are recurrently used in the sustainable assessment of bridges, the analysis of the most recent articles show that the application of TOPSIS and PROMETHEE techniques are gaining increasing relevance for such purpose. Most of the studies focus on the research of the construction and the maintenance stage of bridges. However, a need for further analysis is identified when it comes to the assessment of the impacts resulting from the End of Life cycle stage of bridges from a sustainable point of view. The use of intuitionistic and neutrosophic logic have been detected as emerging alternatives to the fuzzy approach of decision making problems.