Timber Bridges for Rural Areas

Abstract

In the Development Plans of a country, roads play an important role, because in the present age of vehicular traffic these are the major as well as cheaper means of communication. Bridges are an essential prerequisite to roads as they are required to span small as well as large gaps. In rural areas where local timber is readily available, timber bridges can economically be used over nullahs and streams of small spans where heavy vehicular traffic is restricted to about 10-ton road rollers. As timber has a satisfactory salvage value it can be re-used in case the bridge is abandoned due to detour and other reasons.