Project Overview
The timber bridge design for the vehicular and pedestrian bridges at Minuteman High School in Lexington, MA commemorates a local revolutionary war icon, the Old North Bridge. It reflects simplicity of colonial era architecture, clean lines and hearty structural details. We worked with Samiotes Consultants, Inc. to provide a competitively priced and low-impact alternative to the originally considered culverts. Each of the five bridges are customized to embrace the wetlands’ curves and skews, delivering fluid site circulation and uniting the state-of-the-art vocational high school campus. AASHTO HS-20 load capacity supports traffic from commuters, school buses, and emergency vehicles. The heavy wood grain saturated by the oil coatings pops with a rich tint staying true to the natural warmth of timber and remaining beautiful for future generations at Minuteman High School.
Planning Resources
Specifications
- Widths:
- 5', 7', 26'
- Lengths:
- 24', 26', 60', 25'
- Height:
- 4-8' above grade
- Capacity:
- HS20-44 & 85 PSF
- Construction:
- Ground Up
- Span Type:
- Free Span Repetitive Span
- Span Lengths:
- (18) 15'
- Material:
- CCA/CA-C Treated Southern Yellow Pine
- Foundation:
- SYP Timber Piles & Abutments (Acrylic/Polymer Coated where exposed)
- Stringers:
- SYP Rough Sawn Timber & Glulam Stringers (Translucent Oil Coated where exposed)
- Vehicular Deck System:
- 5 ½” Timber Deck
- Pedestrian Deck System:
- 1-½” Timber Deck
- Guard Rail:
- Decero™ Classic Design Series
- Handrail:
- Decero™ Wire Mesh Design Series
- Crossing:
- Flood Plain