In Longview, Washington, the Sandbaggers Club sponsors a squirrel bridge design contest. The contest is a part of Squirrel Fest , an annual festival in August which celebrates squirrels.
www.lvsquirrelfest.com
In the contest, builders are challenged to design and fabricate models of bridges that may be used by squirrels. Some winning models have been hoisted up in tree branches near the local high school.
It is not obvious that squirrels need bridges to help cross tree branches, but it’s clear that the designers are having fun. An earlier bridge has a suspension shape and is named the “Nutty Narrows”.
roadsideamerica.com
A recent entry has a cable-stayed shape and is designed to look like the Zakim Bridge in Boston.
http://tdn.com/news/local/sandbaggers-will-install-longview-s-newest-squirrel-bridge-saturday/article_4bc6c3f2-6c0f-11e2-9826-0019bb2963f4.html
In terms of structural performance, the bridge behaves more like a beam bridge than a cable stayed bridge since the center piers that hold the cables don't drop below the deck. For regular squirrels this probably isn’t of concern. But should the span be crossed by fat squirrels, it is possible that any additional strength provided by true cable stayed behavior may be missed.
fanpop.com
Nutty Narrows
February 7, 2013