In our frequent trips to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
over the last few months I got to know William
who was doing stonework at the Hay-Yo-Kay Hot Springs.
Part of his work included this very nice stone and concrete bridge
spanning a channel of hot spring runoff water.
When I first noticed the project,
William had just finished pouring the abutments on each side
and was forming up the deck of the bridge.
Note the deck rebar extends into each abutment.
He sawed off the vertical 2x4 blocks to his desired height
and then stretched supports across which held up the plywood form.
His forms were made from recycled and reused lumber.
Before pouring the concrete he mortared in the stone edge on each side,
as shown above.
Next the pilasters...
...and the metal railing...
...give a nice finished look.
The precast caps are a nice detail.
These last two photos show another bridge he has built on the property.
The arch above really sets it apart.
The photo above comes from the blog Thinking With My Hands
and from the category of Stone Bridges
you can see a series of amazing posts on dry stack stone bridges (as above),
which give a nice contrast to the use of concrete and mortar,
not to mention a "greener" profile from avoiding energy consumptive concrete.
To see more posts on bridges check out LABELS-OUTSIDE on the right sidebar
and click on Bridges.
