Mueller Bridge at Climbers Run Nature Preserve will allow visitors to cross a creek without getting their feet wet. Swartz designed a structure that fits in beautifully with its natural surroundings.
Logan Swartz, PE, C.S. Davidson (CSD) Bridge Engineering Manager, strolls past the Climbers Run Nature Center in Pequea, Pennsylvania, around a water lily-laden pond and down a forested path. There, nestled among the trees and spanning the gurgling Climbers Run, is one of Logan’s latest projects: Mueller Bridge.
The idea for the project, overseen by the Lancaster Conservancy, originated when Jordan Good, CSD Chief Administrative Officer, was volunteering at Climbers Run. He learned that a bridge had washed out during a storm in 2019. The Conservancy had planned to replace the span long before the storm hit and had received a permit to do so from the state Department of Environmental Protection four years earlier. But the permit was about to expire.
The Conservancy needed to get moving on the project, renew the permit, and begin designing a new bridge immediately.
Providing the expertise
A bridge engineer by training, Jordan returned to the office and asked his team how it could make a new bridge a reality. CSD decided to donate its services to get the ball rolling and called on Logan to design bridge options for the Conservancy.
That initial effort turned into a full-fledged project when the Conservancy brought on CSD as the official engineer for the project. Logan worked closely with the Conservancy, navigating the complexities of permitting, design, and construction to ensure that the new bridge would meet the community’s needs and environmental standards.
“I love being able to come alongside and hear what their vision is for their property and their goals for the trail,” Logan says. “A lot of parks boards or nonprofit agencies are looking for someone to help provide that experience and expertise.”
Choosing a design
Logan considered four types of bridges as he worked up designs. A timber bridge, which would fit the aesthetic of the preserve, would be too difficult to erect without removing numerous trees. A fiberglass bridge would be lightweight and easy to install and repair if damage should occur, but the Conservancy felt it didn’t fit in with the natural serenity of the site.
A painted bridge or a weathering steel bridge were the final options. Logan wasn’t sure if the contractor could navigate a crane into the site to install a steel bridge. So the team decided to erect a spliced weathering steel bridge.
The rails were installed in three pieces, spliced and bolted together to form a steel span that has weathered to a natural rust color, complementing the greens and golds of the surrounding forest.
The spliced steel bridge is designed for durability and efficiency, and its modular construction will allow for a long life. The spliced steel beams lessened the environmental impact during installation. Only a few trees near the creek bank had to be removed to make way for a smaller crane than would be needed for full-length steel beams.
“Before, in order to utilize the trail system and be able to hike on both sides of the creek, you’d have to creek-stomp your way through to get to the other side,” Logan says. “It was challenging, particularly in cold weather.”
Now, community members can hike along both sides of the creek without getting their feet wet.
Rural engineering at its best
When Logan joined CSD as an intern in 2009, he had trained to engineer vertical structures. He grew up in a rural area but resigned to working in a city where most vertical civil engineering occurs. By a seemingly serendipitous occurrence, he landed in the world of bridge engineering.
Near the end of the Great Recession, which lasted from 2007 to 2009, Logan began hunting for a job while working on his engineering degree at Penn State Harrisburg. CSD offered him a position working on tunnel inspections along the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
When the project was complete, Logan found a permanent job as an inspector and designer on the CSD Bridge Engineering team. His position has taken him to some of Central Pennsylvania’s most picturesque rural bridge sites.
“I love the rural areas, and being in the bridge field allowed me to work in those environments,” he says.
His personal experiences of trail running, biking, and enjoying the outdoors with his wife and four children dovetail with projects such as the Mueller Bridge. They make his job not just work but a meaningful contribution to the communities that he and his family enjoy.
Logan is excited about CSD’s continued partnership with the Lancaster Conservancy. Since the Mueller Bridge project, the firm has been consulting and designing other projects for the organization.
Working with the Lancaster Conservancy has inspired Logan to pursue other community-focused projects, such as stream stabilization and restoration and designing pedestrian walking and hiking trails. Whatever his projects, he aims to build structures that will have a positive long-term impact on the communities he serves.
“We are building out the community that we want to see and experience and for our children and the generations to follow,” he says.