Our Bridge on Mountain Creek

One of the things Kevan and I love to do is walk (or take the 4-wheeler) down to our bridge.  Yup, our property in Tennessee has a bridge.  A big cement bridge.  It seems that there used to be a road (many many years ago) that went through our current property.  Our neighbors have heard that the reason it stopped being used was because our pond developed over the road and was no longer accessible and the road was moved.  So, I guess I'm thankful for our pond too.  Otherwise there would be a big road going through our property. 

We have seen turtles, fish, frogs, otters and we've even seen evidence of beavers down at the creek.  Below is a picture of the bridge.  The neigbors own the property on the other side of the bridge and as you can see they have allowed everything to grow up to the bridge.  Our neighbor said that the bridge hasn't been used by traffic in over 60 years.

Here is a picture of Mountain Creek from August of last year.

Sunday we drove down to the creek to just sit, relax and listen.  We were told there are pretty big trout and bass in the creek, but we have only seen a few little fish here and there.

Anyway, each time we visit, the amount of debris that is up against the bridge becomes larger and larger.  Each time it rains garbage, trees, pvc pipes, etc is pushed down the creek and it becomes stuck at our bridge.  It is really sad.  Here is a picture from August of the debris.

Here is a picture from December, right after a heavy rain.

Lastly, here is a picture from this past weekend.  As you can see, it is getting worse and worse.  At some point we would like to start cleaning up some of the debris, but it is going to be a HUGE job and a dangerous job. 

Another view...

The clog is starting to cause erosion around the bridge.  So, if the debris isn't cleared out we may not have a way to the bridge soon.

Here is a video that will give you a better idea of how bad it is.  You can see the debris as well as the erosion in the video.

I guess we will try to conquer this once we finish the master bedroom, paint the barn, fix the leaks in the house....living on a farm seems to have never ending chores....I might be missing Florida...just a little.