So you want to build a puncheon?

By Briana Bienusa, 2020 WCC Intern

I hear you are sick of trudging through the mud. Maybe your horse got its shoe plucked right off. Or you even got your shoe plucked right off? It’s time for a structure to be installed. Luckily for you deciding which kind is not quite the hardest part. You settle on a puncheon. The definition of that is unclear so you google it: “a plank road, built with split logs or heavy slab timbers”. Sounds easy enough right?

But wait, it seems you want to put this into the wilderness.  That means the installation process is void of chainsaws, drills, and bobcats (well maybe not bobcats, depending on the type you are thinking of).  You and your crew collect katana boys, a crosscut, an axe, chisels, slicks, single jacks, nails, rebar, a drill (the non-battery operated one that looks more like a torture tool), pick mattocks, a Pulaski, and other various devices.  

Somehow you must figure how to pack these in. Via mule seems the best option. Once at the worksite, you spend days trudging through the mud- just trying to make drainage.  Your crew finds suitable trees for your structure, unfortunately those are all downhill of your worksite. Good thing you are all strong! Finally after days of struggle, you have mud sills and stringers installed.

Now comes the biggest challenge. Yes your arms are fatigued, but you need to find some strength. The decking and rebar still need hammered in. Likely, you will hit your hand minimum 10 times. Don’t worry, a little blood and bruising is normal.  Once your hands and arms are tingly, the final step of installing the bull rails will feel like a dream. Before you know it, you are walking over your structure wondering what you got yourself into. In the end all the struggle is worth it as you skip above the bog that once lived in your nightmares.

Recently our WCC crew set out into the Lincoln Ranger District to remove an old puncheon and replace it. All jokes aside, installing a puncheon was a difficult but rewarding task. Below are some pictures of our journey!