Volunteers rebuilding footbridge on Melvin Hazen West trail

A flooded Melvin Hazen footbridge in 2016.

by Marlene Berlin

The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club is rebuilding the footbridge on the Melvin Hazen Trail west of Connecticut Avenue. The old footbridge, or what was left of it, was near the entrance to the trail near the parking lot behind Sedgwick Gardens (3726 Connecticut Avenue, map).

Years of flooding took their toll on the old Melvin C Hazen footbridge. (2019 photo by William Matzelevich, courtesy of ANC 3F)

The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club received a $2,500 grant from ANC 3F to remove and rebuild this bridge.

On May 18th, PATC volunteers removed what was left of the old bridge.

Volunteers at work removing the old footbridge on May 18th, 2019. (photo courtesy of Potomac Appalachian Trail Club – Rock Creek Crew, via Facebook)

Two weeks later, they returned to begin constructing the new one.

After the PATC volunteers’ second day of work on June 1st, 2019.

And they’ll be back on Saturday, June 15th to continue the work. All are welcome, though PATC does need parent/guardian permission for under-18 helpers, and it asks that volunteers leave their four-legged friends at home.

Alex Sanders, district manager of trails for the Potomac Apalachian Trail Club, is overseeing this project. He expects to have the bridge reconstructed by the end of June if the weather cooperates.

In addition to rebuilding the footbridge, PATC volunteers are doing some much-needed work to restore other sections of the Melvin Hazen trail and slow erosion. In some cases they’re using debris that has collected near the bridge.

“We are using some of it to narrow the trail in spots and close off places where users tend to wander in order to reduce impacts on the forest floor,” Sanders said in an email. “Given time, the debris should also help to encourage plant growth where the ground is bare.”