Thrasher Elementary students and community members who use the school's walking trails may now cross the bog within the trail system on the newly completed Knox Bridge, which was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony during Thrasher's recent Earth Night event.
Kim Fookes, project manager for the Thrasher PTA board, said the bridge will serve as a platform for education and observation of the wetlands that the trail system previously only went around. Students who live on the west side of the school can also use the bridge to walk to school, she said.
"We also have a lot of walkers from the neighborhood after school hours," Fookes said in regards to the trail system, which was added about four years ago.
Jeni Yielding and Fraggle cross the new Knox Bridge while walking the trails at Thrasher Elementary.
A similar bridge built to cross the wetlands at McCoy Farm and Gardens was designed by Cumberland Trail founder Sam Powell. He approached Fookes, who also served as coordinator for the McCoy bridge project, about doing a bridge for the Thrasher trail system. Though Powell was unaware, the bridge was already included in the long-term plans for the area.
Caroline Warner designed the trail that leads to the school bridge, and Thrasher alum Terry Knox, for whom the bridge was named, built it.
"He grew up close to Thrasher, and he was excited to come back and be a part of that," Fookes said.
EPB donated telephone poles for the joist, and Bolts and Nuts donated hardware for the project. Hamilton County, which had recently had to take down a fairly new bridge, donated the wood to be recycled as the floor of the new bridge, Fookes said.
New wood had to be purchased for the bridge's railing, and the Thrasher PTA partnered with Lowe's in order to receive a discount, said
Fookes. Bob's Tree Services, of Signal Mountain, helped move the telephone poles for the project, she added.
"It's a beautiful thing when we can all work together," Fookes said.