Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
The bridge needs a bike rack and bench
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
This overlook area is 5' x 20'.
We would like to isolate the overlook from the bike path with a simple bench whose length would as shown in this drawing. Would any of you have a picture or drawing of a wood bike rack and a bench for this location.
Re: The bridge needs a bike rack and bench
paul in AZ
No info bikes but I wonder about the size and placement of the benches.
Someone sitting at an 18" bench with knees protruding leaves a slightly tight space for others to walk by. Or make the benches more like 15" perches? That would also discourage people from spending the night sleeping there -)).
Re: The bridge needs a bike rack and bench
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
look up Mendota in Google earth and imagine how many people would be inclined to walk a mile down the RR bed starting from "nowhere" to spend the night. They might spend the night cat fishing.
Re: The bridge needs a bike rack and bench
William Duffield
A Google Image search for "wooden bike rack" immediately turns up some promising bike rack designs. For example,
and
Most I found, however, were metal and for sale, not DIY.
A similar search should turn up useful bench designs. I like the idea of the back of the bench separating sitters from riders.
Re: The bridge needs a bike rack and bench
William Duffield
I looked at lots of benches and bench plans on the internet. There is an amazing variety of designs to work from. Leftovers and offcuts from the bridge deck boards, rails and posts should provide enough raw materials to build many sturdy benches. I would choose a design with longitudinal slats for the seats and backs. An easily fixed but glaring deficiency in most of the internet plans and photographs was lack of curves for rump support and lower back support. A template and bandsaw would easily correct those deficiencies. Since you have access to the floor support joists, screwing the bench uprights to the joists would have several advantages, increasing the strength, simplifying the design, and discouraging theft and vandalism.