Tunnels & Bridges

Greenway Bridge Design

The Mascoma River Greenway from downtown Lebanon to West Lebanon winds its way over four bridges and through two tunnels. The MRC Coalition is targeting its investments toward improving these structures in 2013 and 2014. With safe passage through the bridges and tunnels, construction of the rest of the Greenway will be much easier as funding becomes available and our volunteer base builds.

So what makes a good tunnel design on a Greenway system? It turns out this question has been well-researched by the Rails to Trails Conservancy in its publication TUNNELS ON TRAILS: A Study of 78 Tunnels on 36 Trails in the United States.

Greenway Tunnel

This article has great case studies we can learn from – what features help to make a tunnel safe for the user? Good lighting, good drainage and good signage to name a few.

So stay tuned for more updates on how the Mascoma River Greenway is moving forward – we still need volunteers to help with promotion and other tasks – contact Frank Gould go2teach@comcast.net or Paul Coats paul.coats@lebcity.com to get involved!