Ditches can be immeasurably useful in ensuring the land remains flood-free, but they can also act as an annoying obstacle when you want to cross from one side to the other. If you need to get vehicles, equipment or large groups of people to the other side, you need a bridge that is going to guarantee stability at all times. Don’t worry – this isn’t hard to do. In fact, depending on the size of your land and the budget you have to hand, finding the right bridge solution will be quick, easy and instantly make your life a whole lot easier.
The easiest and most time-efficient way of bridging a ditch is to use a pre-fab temporary bridge of the sort that’s easily obtainable from any good construction company. Pre-fabricated temporary bridges can be either bought or rented and tend to be both lightweight and durable, which makes them fine for use on either a long or short-term basis. Temporary construction bridges are also a great idea when you need to move heavy vehicles or machinery, as they call come stamped with clearly defined loading weights for your peace of mind.
Building a Log or Lumber Bridge
Log bridges are fine if you have the tools and expertise required to carry out construction to a good standard, and if the bridge you intend to build won’t be required to support heavy loads. Their green credentials make them a good choice for the environmentally-minded and, depending on where you source your materials and which design you use, they have the potential to be relatively low cost. Sourcing wood from a lumber yard to build your bridge will give you a greater scope for fine-tuning the basic elements – load capacity, width, depth etc.
Building a Drystone Bridge
Drystone bridge are more complicated to construct that log or lumber bridges, but can result in spectacularly beautiful structures which are capable – depending on how well they’re built – of lasting a lifetime. The best way to start is with bedrock, as this tends to make for the best foundation. You’ll also need a former with which to shape the arch of the bridge, as well as a good amount of suitable drystone for the bridge itself. Drystone walls can take time to build and are fairly labour intensive, but once built you’ll be left with a permanent structure you can be proud of.