This project consisted of two 20 foot bridges with ramps; this one over the Middle Brook
and the other over the outlet from the Gateshead detention basin. This was the first Eagle
Scout project approved and constructed; as such it broke the ice with the Boy Scouts of
America leaders and opened the way for those that followed. The scouts did the survey
layout to square and level the bridge abutments, and put in stakes for setting the forms.
Ardmaer Construction directed their contractor to excavate for the footings. The scouts
then set the forms and the concrete was delivered by truck. Once the concrete cured the
bridges were constructed. The total length of both bridges with all four ramps is 62 Feet.
John Evancho and Troop 88 completed them in the summer 1995
If the 1955 plan to build the Washington Valley Reservoir had been executed you would
now be standing near the shore of a huge lake.
(See Resevoir that Nearly Was in General
Section)
The common water strider (Gerris remigis) is a bug that slides on the top of the water
using surface tension on four large legs. The third pair of legs near the head is smaller.
If they break the surface tension of the water and get wet they must the have to get off
the water and dry out. They feed on mosquito larva among other things so the should be
considered as friends. They can be seen between May and October.
Dragonflies evolved about 300 million years ago, during the Pennsylvanian period of the
Paleozoic era. This is about 70 million years before the appearance of dinosaurs in the
Triassic.
Dragonflies and damselflies are efficient predators of mosquitoes. The eyes and wings
differentiate the groups. The easiest way to tell them apart is the by how they hold their
wings when they are not flying. Dragonflies hold their wings spread out to the sides of
the body and damselflies hold them together above the body. Both have four wings, are able
to fly forwards and backwards, and have their legs located far forward on the thorax
enabling them to kill and eat in flight but making it difficult to walk. Their nymphs are
called naiads and they eat mosquito larva.
Quiet Pools
Along the length of the Middle Brook trail are pools, ponds, and streamsides from which to
watch for creatures that live close to water. In late spring and summer listen for the
banjo like plink of green frogs or the lower, hoarse rumbling croak of bullfrogs. Tree
frogs are often heard in this area too. Dragonflies with their four wings fixed wide like
biplanes, and the more slender damselflies, whose wings fold across their back at rest,
dart across water, hawking for insects or laying eggs. Eastern painted and box turtles
emerge from patches of bright orange jewelweed to sun themselves on logs or stones.
If you are quiet approaching water you might also see small songbirds such as yellow
warblers or catbirds drinking or bathing along the water’s edge. Watch for water
striders walking on top of the water, and mayflies emerging in the spring from the surface
in the quiet pools of the stream.
