11 Jul Tread Lightly! Impact Report: Bennington County Bridge

Project: Bronco Wild Fund– Bennington County Bridge
Location: Bennington County, VT
Description:

With generous support from Bronco Wild Fund, six volunteers worked to demolish and re-deck a rotting bridge in a popular OHV area in Bennington County, VT with support from Tread Lightly! The volunteers also installed educational carsonite posts and removed 48 lbs. of trash including construction debris, caution tape and other litter on the site.

This popular off-roading, camping and hiking area is friendly to the 4×4 community and has worked with Tread Lightly! to develop a motorized recreation plan to ensure access to this road system for decades to come. Because of the easy access from the New York and Boston Metro Area, and its breathtaking views, the area has become a destination off-road location for locals and visitors alike.

Thank you to our partners who supported this project: Main Line Overland, Ridgeback Guide Service, Go Fox Adventures, NE-OVEX and DCS Lighting

“These stewardship projects are important on many levels, keeping access open for all users, restoring the viability of an ancient roadway and helping the reputation of the 4wd/Overlanding community across the Northeast are a few of them.”—Ron Harrington, Ridgeback Guide Service

“The most obvious challenge was getting the material up a steep and rocky trail in order to rebuild the bridge. The 4×6 Timbers are rather heavy and longer than what could be safely secured to any of the vehicles on site. This left the crew of volunteers to carry the 17’ long Timbers up by hand. We used radios to communicate between Ron who was assembling the bridge and myself at the landing area while cutting the materials to save unnecessary trips up and down the hill. There was also a truck being loaded with stone to fix a washout just before the bridge. It truly was an all hands-on deck repair by a few people that have a love for our lifestyle and a respect for the preservation of the land we use. Being born and raised in VT I was honored to be a small part in restoring a historic bridge. Knowing it will get used for years to come, continuing to allow motorized recreation in this beautiful state, brings me great joy and pride. “—Eric Goulet, DCS Lighting

“It was a lot of manual labor and hard work to fill the bed of our company truck, 10 times, one shovel at a time- but the results were worth the effort. Now that the old bridge was removed and disposed of accordingly to make room for this brand-new bridge, the class IV road will remain open and allow continued access for local residents and visitors alike.”—Ed Fermin, Director of NE-OVEX

“As someone with a motorsport background but new to offroading I understand the necessity to do our part in order to keep these trails open.
Our motorized recreation is limited here in the northeast and we must set an example for others if we want to keep public use trails open for future generations.
I had an amazing experience with the tread lightly team working on ancient forest roads in the backcountry of New Hampshire and am thankful to have been a part of the
new bridge construction that will be used for many years to come.”—Sam Pickford, Main Line Overland