Discover how West Point cadets contributed to a new pedestrian bridge along the Appalachian Trail in Harriman State Park.
Rugged long-distance hikers and day-trippers alike will enjoy a new pedestrian trail bridge along the Appalachian Trail at Harriman State Park. This is thanks to a partnership between West Point cadets, the Open Space Institute (OSI), the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC).
The 34-foot-long steel bridge was constructed as part of a senior-year capstone project by a team of five Civil Engineering cadets with support from three faculty advisors. Located near where the Appalachian Trail crosses Seven Lakes Drive, the new pedestrian bridge features significant safety upgrades. These features include level wood decking over steel girders, decorative handrails, concrete abutments, and stone armor to minimize streambank disturbance and erosion. In addition, the bridge is nearly two feet higher than the previous version to accommodate seasonal flooding.
This collaborative project provides the cadets with invaluable hands-on design and expeditionary construction experience as they pursue their civil engineering degrees and train for their military careers. Meanwhile, it creates or replaces infrastructure within New York’s state parks.
Each bridge built by the cadets has a distinct style inspired by the landscape. This year, the design features an elegant, asymmetrical curved railing evocative of the Appalachian Mountain range. The bridge also incorporates a prominent “AT” design, reflective of both “A” for “Army” and “AT” for “Appalachian Trail,” in the reinforcing steel plates mounted to the railing posts. The project included environmental and engineering analyses, design, and construction of the bridge and its concrete foundation.
The excerpt and image were taken from https://www.openspaceinstitute.org.
