MOUNT VERNON — Through a private/public partnership between the Knox County Park District and Bowen Engineering Corp., Wolf Run Regional Park received an oak wood bridge estimated to be in the range of $4,000.
The Bowen Corp. donated staff and the plans to construct the bridge, as well as securing all of the cost not covered by local donations. The bridge will connect Wolf Run’s nature trails to 25 acres of grassland not previously available to the public, adding two miles of trails to the already maintained five miles. The park totals 288 acres, which includes nature trails, wetlands, a pond, natural habitats, grasslands, hardwood forest and an overlook observation deck.
Bowen Engineering Corp. is based in Fishers, Ind., with an office located in Gahanna. The initial project began in February in response to a leadership training program sponsored by Bowen Engineering.
“Bowen has this leadership training where they take some of their supervisors and they put them through classes and speakers on different qualities they want in a leader,” said Holly Tank, project manager for Bowen Engineering. “Part of the training is that you have to pick a community service project, and a part of being a leader is giving back to your community.”
“I think more people should be involved in these types of projects. I know that because of Bowen is the reason why we got involved. Their philosophy is you need to take time for your community and take time for your family,” said Brad Wiggins, project superintendent for Bowen Engineering.
Both Tank and Wiggins live in Knox County and admire the outdoors. They wanted to do something that would give back to the community and parks.
“We wanted something that would certainly accommodate visitors, so they could get out and hike on the bridge, and get into this new area that is just opening up,” said Kim Marshall, director of the Knox County Park District.
Work began in August, with laying the foundation for the bridge. On Saturday, 10 crew members began work at 9 a.m. and continued throughout the day, hoping to have most of the bridge completed by the end of the day.
Oak and all native hardwood are being used to build the bridge. Three 12-by-12-by-24-foot-long oak beams, which weigh about 1,600 pounds each, hold up the structure. The bridge will be covered with 250 square feet of white oak decking.
“Bowen Engineering has been wonderful to work with. The staff has been really flexible. They really worked with us on design because we really wanted it to fit into the landscape and blend into the landscape,” said Marshall.
Wiggins designed the layout of the bridge to fit particularly for this area.
“This is actually the second submittal we gave to the park district; the first was a pretty massive bridge and it had a lot of concrete in it and it would be too much for any type of traffic,” said Wiggins. “They wanted something more to go with the park, something more rustic, more wood and rough-cut lumber.”
According to Wiggins, the bridge is expected to last 40 to 50 years without replacement needs at all.
“If you keep sealing it, it will probably be here,” he said. “If you seal it every two to three years, you will never wear it out. The beams are all cut out of a center core of a tree; the main beams are 12x12’s. So they will not warp because of them being cut out of the exact center of the rings.”
“[The bridge is] another feature that fits naturally into the landscape and emphasizes the landscape [especially the stream],” said Doug McLarnan, operations manager for the Knox County Park District.
“We are really pleased with this private/public partnership and certainly look forward to working with Bowen Engineering again,” said Marshall. “We look forward to more opportunities in the future, if funding becomes available or if other partnerships become available; we want to increase recreational access and opportunity for all the citizens of Knox County.”
