How to Build a Wooden Foot Bridge

Video Transcript

RON HAZELTON:
Well, today I'm headed to Eureka, California to visit Star and Esther Killian.
STAR KILLIAN:
This is it.
RON HAZELTON:
Well, I can see the problem. I can imagine water rushing through here and also, these banks -- I guess you were telling me, get really slick, huh?
STAR KILLIAN:
Yes, absolutely.
RON HAZELTON:
We don't want to be climbing up and down those. All right. Well --

I have a pretty good idea of what kind of bridge will work best here. It will rest on four concrete blocks or piers, two on each side of the creek. The piers will support two long beams on top of which, we'll place wooden treads or planks. Finally, we'll add a railing.

Why don't we start by pre -- preparing the ground here?

With shovels and hand tools, we begin leveling the ground where the piers will rest. The soil is moist, so the digging goes quickly. Then, we drop our first concrete pier into place.

Did you guys see that little torpedo level anywhere?

We check to make sure the first pier is level.
Not bad, huh?
STAR KILLIAN:
Ohh --
RON HAZELTON:
Huh -- for an eyeball?

Then we dig for the second pier, set it in place and check to make sure it's level with the first.

Wow, I'd say that's close enough.

Now we cross to the other side of the creek and get ready the set the two remaining piers.

Just set that right on top of the pier, would you? And just clamp that --

To locate their position, we lay the ends of two 12-foot planks on the piers we just installed, and extend them across the creek, measuring to make sure the planks are parallel.

Once in position, the ends of the planks will dictate where to locate our second set of piers. A little more digging and leveling and the remaining piers are ready to go.

That looks about perfect. Okay, great.

With all four piers in place, we're ready to build our support beams.

Okay, let's glue this up.

The beams will be 4 x 6 timbers that we'll make ourselves by laminating two 2 x 6's together. First, Star and I apply construction adhesive to the face of one plank, then set a second plank on top.
RON HAZELTON:
Okay, so we've got two pieces of 2 x 6 now that we're going to sandwich together, first with the glue. Now I'm going to bolt these together with galvanized bolts.

Star drills holes every 24 inches. I follow behind, injecting silicone, which will coat the holes and keep water from leaking in and rotting the board from the inside out. Now we drive in the carriage bolts. This combination of adhesive and bolts will give us a strong, stable, warp-resistant beam.

Which way -- we'll go this way? Okay. Okay, time to put some galvanized washers and nuts on these carriage bolts.

We tighten the nuts until the washers just begin to compress the wood.

Do you have any animals on the property?
STAR KILLIAN:
We have an occasional bear --
RON HAZELTON:
Bear?
STAR KILLIAN:
-- and a mountain lion's been spotted up in the back hill.

RON HAZELTON:
All right, let's drop it down.

The piers have metal straps for attaching the beams. After clamping the beams in place, we insert a drill bit into the hole in the metal strap and bore all the way through the beam. A little silicone in the hole and we can drive in our bolts, screw on the nuts and tighten them with a socket wrench. We've purchased pre-cut posts for our railing supports and clamped them temporarily in place.

You know, these pre-cut posts were a great find. Already knots in the bottom, already got champers on the top. And this has made this installation really simple. So let's clamp this on.

We secure them to the beams by once again, drilling clearance holes, injecting silicone and installing carriage bolts. Now we're ready to start on the treads or surface planks of the bridge.

Esther, let's measure the width of these beams now. Start over here at this end, run the tape measure across to the outside. What are you getting there?
ESTHER KILLIAN:
Thirty four.
RON HAZELTON:
Thirty four. Okay. I want to make the treads like an inch longer on either side, so they'll overhang. So 36 inches. Let's go cut some.

I give Esther a few tips on using a circular saw and pretty soon, we have all the treads we'll need.

Now we can make this bridge a bridge, make it walkable, huh?

We're careful to make sure the tread overhangs both beams equally. Then Star attaches it with rust-resistant deck screws.

Our second board here, we're going to have to notch out to fit around this post right here.

To do this, I first line up my speed square with the post.

Put it up against the post, then bring it back just a little bit because I don't want that actually too tight to fit there. This is a spacer. I want to put about half an inch between these treads right here, and that's so that the leaves and debris won't collect on there.

And then we can take our straight edge, run it right along the side of the post -- back it off just a touch and draw this line, okay. Now what we've got is this section right in here, that we're going to cut out. So let's --

The notched-out boards fit nicely into place.

What a team, huh?
STAR KILLIAN:
Yeah.
RON HAZELTON:
We're going to be across this bridge in no time.

After we attach the treads, it's time to coat the cut-ins with wood preservative.

Well, there you go, folks. Who wants to be the first to walk across? [LAUGHS]
ESTHER KILLIAN:
I do.
RON HAZELTON:
Okay. Esther, you go first. Brave, too. I'll come right behind you. Feels pretty good, huh?
ESTHER KILLIAN:
Mm-hmm [AFFIRMATIVE].
RON HAZELTON:
Now that we have tested the bridge, it's time to install the hand rails.
RON HAZELTON:
Okay, Esther, over the top.

Earlier, I drew a line on the post, marking the height of the hand rail. We use a clamp to hold the hand rail in place and secure it with rust-resistant screws.

This really is the last time you have to go into the gully, Esther.

With the last plank in place, and the last screw driven, it's time to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

What a great way to cross this creek and what a perfect spot to watch the sunset. Nice job, guys.
ESTHER KILLIAN:
Well, I can hardly wait to show my neighbors.