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J-Trap Bridge (?) over the Loddons

PostPosted: Tue 05 Nov, 2019 11:44 pm
by guyburns
I'm transcribing a talk I had with Chris Binks about his early days bushwalking in Tasmania, late 1940s, and he says in one part:

"The Loddon’s were bridged in those days by what they called a J-trap bridge, which was three wires strung together with an occasional wire between them, and you just balanced or hung on to the two side wires, and it swayed around."

Type in "J-trap Bridge" into Google and there are no results.

Anyone know what sort of bridge he is talking about and whether it has a name?

Re: J-Trap Bridge (?) over the Loddons

PostPosted: Wed 06 Nov, 2019 7:02 am
by north-north-west
This article is about New Zealand, but the second photo shows the style of bridge he's talking about. I googled "three wire bridge" to find it.

http://nzbushadventures.blogspot.com/search/label/Three%20Wire%20Bridge

Re: J-Trap Bridge (?) over the Loddons

PostPosted: Thu 07 Nov, 2019 10:40 am
by TML MHz
In Scouts we call these a monkey bridge.

Here's one I prepared earlier.
https://imgur.com/a/BHW1U2L

Re: J-Trap Bridge (?) over the Loddons

PostPosted: Sun 17 Nov, 2019 9:30 pm
by guyburns
Thanks for the feedback.

I was talking to Chris a few days ago and he suggested I search for "Jay Trap". I did, and after a bit of searching, up came this article:

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/arti ... rchLimits=

The photo in that article is probably the very bridge that Chris was talking about.

Re: J-Trap Bridge (?) over the Loddons

PostPosted: Mon 18 Nov, 2019 8:57 am
by vernicosa
Back in the 1970s I recall a wire bridge across the Franklin River at the start of the Jane River Track. It was in use before the two-log vehicle bridge was built about 1975. It was a 3 wire bridge of the type described above.

Re: J-Trap Bridge (?) over the Loddons

PostPosted: Mon 18 Nov, 2019 10:46 am
by CBee
Many of these bridged can still be found on WW1 via ferratas in the Dolomites.

Re: J-Trap Bridge (?) over the Loddons

PostPosted: Thu 21 Nov, 2019 1:08 am
by durks
guyburns wrote:" ... a J-trap bridge, which was three wires strung together with an occasional wire between them, and you just balanced or hung on to the two side wires, and it swayed around."


I'm haven't heard those things called 'J-traps' before, but there is a wire bridge of that type in Glen Nevis, Scotland. See e.g. https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/st ... ed/001789/

Re: J-Trap Bridge (?) over the Loddons

PostPosted: Wed 11 Dec, 2019 7:35 pm
by Moondog55
Pretty sure it stands for Jewels Trap as in "Family Jewels" A distinct fear of emasculation was felt when traversing one