Monets bridge

[John Powers]

I think that's how it's spelled. In paintings of a garden Monet had these little foot bridges. They arc up over a little pond. I have a pressure treated 12 foot flat bridge over a gully now and would like to replace it. Question is if I take a 1x12, tack a Batton on it to describe a 12" arc will that arc be sufficient to make a visual impression? Also if it is, can I just cut the handrails to that same arc or do I need to bend them into that arc. It will not get much foot traffic. Mainly decorative but does need to perform a bridge function.

[Mel Fulks]

Probably too flat .Draw it on paper .I think you probably need a segment no flatter than 6 to 1

[Mel Fulks]

Oops! I left out the handrail. Fortunately pressure treated is available in every radius......It's the straight stuff that's hard to find.

[Kenneth Speed]

I think the bridges you're referring to are inspired by Asian ( Chinese I think) Moon bridges and they're very clearly segments of a circle and much more decorative than practical.

Ken

[Pat Barry]

There is a small bridge like you describe in my neighborhood. It is decorative though, not designed for traffic although I don't see why you couldn't make one that serves to support a person or two.

[Mike Null]

The bridge in Monet's paintings is between his house and the meadows to the right of the famous lilies paintings.(unseen) The bridge is substantial in construction and carried family foot traffic in it's day. It's well over a 100 years old and is still there. I would guess that it's 15 to 18 feet long.

Edit: I see that the bridge has been rebuilt.

[Jim Matthews]

I wonder if you could build something that offers a forced perspective at the hand rail and water line, but has a flatter foot path across?

[Carl Babel]

Family Handyman had an article about building an arched bridge, years ago. They did their own glue-lam beams. Hey, I just search for it (using: family handyman bridge) and found a PDF file on-line. Their bridge is 9' long, but no reason you couldn't build longer, if you want to. Just stagger your joints.

Would love to see pics, if you decide to go ahead and build one.