When we started construction on our new house, it became pretty clear that we needed to manage the flow of water coming off the fields from swamping the house. At the suggestion of our general contractor, we had a swale cut on the east side of the house that diverts the water north towards the main road. While this has helped the water management tremendously, it has left us with a three-foot ditch that prevents us from accessing the east fields directly with our lawn mower. The lockdown around the COVID-19 outbreak gave us a lot of free time on our hands and Robin suggested building a bridge over the swale. She sketched out a plan and secured the building materials (which at the time there was still plenty available).
We decided to build as much as we could in our workshop rather at the site. The workshop has a nice flat floor and was pretty warm in comparison to the outside temperature.
The Plan 
Building Up the Bottom Frames 
Railing in Place 
Testing the Plank Overhang 
Looks Good!
The next weekend, we prepared the footings for the bridge. Then we used our John Deere 1025R tractor to move the finished sections to the final location.
Preparing the Site 
First Footings in Place 
Adjusting Footings 
Assembling the Bridge 
Ready for Planking 
Installing the Planks
Once in position, we joined the two halves together and installed the planks and the caps on the posts.
Both Robin and I are really happy with the way it turned out and access to the east side trails is now straightforward.