Middle Fork River Trail Puncheon Bridge Construction

In April 2018, the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail experienced a major landslide that left most of the trail inaccessible and closed to the public for three years.

In August 2021, the Forest Service and a trails contractor, along with the Greenway Trust, Washington Trails Association, Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, and volunteers all worked together to reroute the trail out of the damaged area.

Across several weeks, the Mountains to Sound Greenway trail crew worked on a 32-foot-long puncheon bridge spanning a muddy seep drainage just west of the landslide area, and connects the old trail to the new reroute trail built by Oregon Woods, which bypasses the 2018 landslide. The bridge consists of four 16’ stringers, four 5’ sills, and 34 12’’x4’’x4’ pieces of decking (two pieces of decking for the bulkhead). The Greenway Trust opted to go with a customized rock foundation for this structure for long-term stability.

Thanks to matching funds from the Middle Fork Campaign and committed contributions from volunteers with WTA that helped the Forest Service secure the grant to work on the bridge building.

Check out more Middle Fork projects here.