Air Force Academy Cadets Design, Build Trail Bridge
BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (CBS4)- Through a unique partnership between the Air Force Academy and the White River National Forest, work is underway to improve the McCullough Gulch Trail bridge.
Cadets spent the last year designing and most recently, building the bridge.
As part of their academic program last fall, the cadets opted into a design elective class "CE-495 Forest Service Bridge Design" offered by the Academy and taught by Professor Stanley Rader.
The class has the creative opportunity to earn academic credit and spend some time outside on public lands taking a project from design to completion.
"It is rare for undergraduate engineering students to take an actual full-scale construction project from initial design through construction to ribbon cutting," said Rader.
TOGETHER 4 COLORADO: Latest Stories | Watch 'Together With Karen Leigh' | Share A Together 4 Colorado Story Idea With CBS4
"The support provided by the U.S. Forest Service to allow our Air Force Academy cadets to experience such an opportunity is priceless. What they have learned through this year-long endeavor will yield fruit throughout their Air Force careers serving our nation."
This class is the second cohort of Air Force Academy cadets to work on a bridge project; in the summer of 2016 a previous class designed and installed a new bridge in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness.
"This project provides unmatched benefits in terms of the cadet's academic development as engineers and preparation to be leaders as Air Force officers by working in an inter-agency environment and serving the public. This particular location was chosen because we recently removed an unsafe road bridge and have been relying on a temporary bridge provided by the County," said Greg Rosenmerkel, Engineering Staff Officer, for the White River National Forest.
Partnership has made this project possible. The cadets are staying in Breckenridge during the project implementation thanks to a grant from the Summit Foundation and donations in memory of Eric Paul Dube of Breckenridge.
Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.