Treehouse bridge update: one section blew down in the California storms

[Danny D.]

The third section blew down in the California storms.

It was just the frame, and a few deck timbers:

Apparently the mistake was to attach it here to the redwood:

These two smaller redwoods apparently bowed to the sides:

We had only the far end attached to the steel cable:

So, we think the mistake was to trust the redwoods and not attach the close end to the overhead steel cable, and also that we had attached the far ends to the cable temporarily with just rope, which broke when the redwoods splayed out in the winds.

What we think happened was:

1. The redwoods splayed outward, pulling the boards out.
2. The close end fell downward putting pressure on the far end.
3. The rope on the right side of the far end broke under stress tumbling the boards to the steep hillside below:

We still can't get the dog out onto the bridge yet, though:

:)

[G. Ross]

It's hard to build in flexibility.

[woodchucker]

Your mistake was using multiple trees. Had you made the tree house using one it would survive, putting it between trees that naturally sway is well, disregarding that fact. Poor design.

[woodchucker]

Or putting it between ground and a tree static and swaying also wrong. There's no way for this to survive.

Any storm with potential to sway the tree will rip it apart.

[John Larkin]

The winds were vicious yeaterday. Driving back to SF, somewhere around Vallejo, a huge multi-trunk tree blew onto I80 and blocked traffic for miles. Westbound, traffic was blocked by the trees, and eastbound, it was blocked by idiots.

Here's The Brat, the kid what does our PCB layouts.

The wind chill up there was in single digits up there on Monday, and predicted -20F in places on Tuesday night. They can get 100 MPH gusts up there on the peaks. Sunny California.

[-MIKE-]

I think the canine is the smarter of the species in this case. :-D

[dpb]

...

Not surprised; such were what we had been trying to convince your buddy of for weeks that hadn't thought this thing thru adequately...

I'd expect more of the same with time; I'd doubt the last week's weather was anything greatly out of the norm of what can be expected with time.

[Maynard A. Philbrook Jr.]

I think the dog is smarter !

Jamie