Ramp/Bridge

Intro: Ramp/Bridge

I saw the contest Reclaimed Wood and knew that I already had a pile of wooden planks coming from different existing previous uses such as furniture, construction etc.... Instead of just burning them I figured why not making something out of it and use it.

I already had an established Ramp/Bridge to go onto my roof but with time and weather it started to rot and crack which was unsafe to walk on and specially with additional weight. Here is the opportunity to make something.

STEP 1: Gather All Your Materials

List of materials and tools needed.

-Woods planks

-Hammer

-Nails

-Measuring Tape

-Crowbar (to remove nails and separate wood)

-Saw (to cut to required length wood)

-Eye Protection

Once you have everything, you can start to build.

STEP 2: Estimation

This step I needed to figure out what length my existing bridge/ramp was so that I can gather enough materials to be able to build something similar and not shorter.

Then find how wide I needed the bridge so as to be able to walk on comfortably and even a bit wider. I just took two wooden planks, put them side by side and stand on to see if I was comfortable.

Once these were obtained, I looked for another piece of wood that will be fixed on top and bottom of the plank/bridge to connect everything as well as to make it more structurally solid.

Once the measurements are completed it is now time to look through the pile of wood the longest available wood plank that would lower the number of joints required in place.

Time to find smaller wood pieces to be used as joint to make the whole structure as one. At first just place the wood pieces where it will connect the other two together to have an overview. This process will be repeated twice as this needs to be done in order to make the structure more solid one from the top and one from bottom.

Next step, assembly?

STEP 3: Construction and Assembly

From here we can start the assembly of the structure. I already laid everything in place and had my dad to put the nails into as I was quite lazy to do it myself :p

Once the first side is completed, the structure would be turned on the other side and wood pieces would be added again to cover the gaps and make the structure more solid.

Video where nails were being hammered in up till the bridge/platform is completed.

STEP 4: Completed

The ramp/bridge has now been completed and it is time to put it in the place where it will be used.

First I need to remove my older one and then put the other one in place. Once in place moment of truth, as walking on it I could feel that it would bend slightly and also when on the roof it would twist.

To fix this problem another piece of would was nailed in to give in more stability and the gap that was under the ramp/bridge was just filled with other pieces of wood so that when stepped on it there will be a support and it won't crack.

Other than that everything works as it should but I would recommend that to add more pieces of wood to make it stronger.