Jamison Creek Stringer Bridge

Working with the Beckwourth Ranger District, the SBTS trail crew headed deep into the Jamison Creek canyon to construct a log stringer bridge across Little Jamison Creek. The crossing had a stringer bridge at one time, but a tree fell across it and broke the log into 3 pieces, making the crossing impassable without trampling vegetation and wading through the sometimes chest deep and very cold water. A dying fir tree was selected near the optimum location for the crossing, however it was leaning the wrong direction and was hung up in a neighbor tree. Knowing it would be a challenge to fall the tree where we needed it, we recruited the expertise of our own Henry O’Donnell to fall the 30+ inch diameter fir. Henry carefully cut and pounded wedges into the tree, falling it in nearly perfect position. Once the tree was down, all the branches were removed and the area was picked up of all fallen debris. A griphoist, car jack and digging bars were then used to lift the tree onto a rock and cedar header, which elevated the stringer above creek level to allow the water to flow under the bridge. During the Spring runoff, water will flow over the log, so the log was pinned and cabled to a nearby live tree to prevent it from washing downstream.

This stringer bridge will last for several seasons and was built at minimal costs to the Forest Service when compared to a pre-manufactured glue laminate bridge with concrete headers. The long term goal with this crossing is to perform a NEPA (National Environmental Protection Act) study to construct a stone arch bridge using native materials, which will provide a permanent and attractive crossing.

See more photos here