time lapse video (skip the first 45 seconds) of deconstructing a bridge, make in the 40s, with a cedar trunk 110 feet long, 6 feet in diameter, bucked into two 55 foot lengths and laid parallel on either side of Ellsworth Creek.

Removing this bridge was necessary for many reasons; the environmental benefits and, after over seven decades, its utility and integrity were eroding.

 Retiring this bridge from service supporting logging helps to once again recruit Ellsworth Creek into service supporting salmon.

 But its history, and remembrance, are important. Not only was the bridge used to haul logs and loggers for almost 80 years, it was a remnant and a reminder of the history of the Pacific Northwest

Removing the bridge, rebuilding the natural historic gradients, and decommissioning the road approaches unmake the human history and remake the natural history of Ellsworth Creek.

 The large diameter cedar that was used to make the bridge was returned to Ellsworth Creek in the form of a new log jam designed to foster salmon habitat. Given historic logging practices and “stream cleaning” activities from years past, it is unusual to be able to contribute wood of this size and type back into the system.

https://www.washingtonnature.org/fieldnotes/2016/8/2/unmaking-and-remaking-history