Permanent and temporary forest bridges are an integral part of achieving environmental Best Management Practices (BMPs) for harvesting operations. Within Virginia Tech's Fishburn Forest, five stream crossings have been installed to improve access and to provide a demonstration area for continuing education purposes.
This website provides basic information for stream crossing considerations regarding type of crossing, typical costs, installation considerations, access limitations, environmental issues and appropriates stream types.

The second section discusses permit acquisition (Virginia) and environmental considerations for stream crossings.

Finally, a more detailed breakdown of our actual bridge installation costs, including materials, labor and machinery requirements, are shown for the permanent and temporary crossing types. These include:

• Concrete and Pipe Low Water Crossing
• Timber Stringer Bridge
• Lumber Stress-Laminated Bridge
• Stress-Laminated Skidder Panel Bridge
• Culvert Crossing
• Ford Crossing

For additional information, please contact:

• Virginia Department of Forestry
• Wood in Transportation Center

For technical information please contact Dr. Rien Visser:

• Email
• Faculty Web Page