First Place Northeast Region
Brian Lowery
Bellefonte, PA

Inherent Strength

"Pappy's Farm" now has a sturdy bridge across the creek to the ball field. Brian Lowery, his wife Bethany and two children teamed up with Brian's father to build a 25- foot arched footbridge on the elder Lowery's farm near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

Brian and his father co-own a Wood-Mizer LT40. They cut 500 board feet of white ash and white oak, all culled from dead wood on the farm, for the beams, bracing, treads and hand rails.

Brian says, "Since the span was longer than our LT40's 20-foot capacity, we joined the bridge beams with butt seams. I have always liked the look of arched bridges and their inherent strength. It's a nice fit at this location, with a high clearance for debris that comes down the stream in high water."

Brian says, "We love the LT40, it allowed us to saw lumber to any size we needed for the bridge. I really like the flexibility to saw what I want rather than having to build with what is available "off the shelf" at the box stores."