Although a much smaller market than housing, there is a long history of building bridges in wood. For many years, short span bridges particularly for resource roads or roads to access recreational areas were built in timber or glued-laminated timber. While some of these bridges still exist today, many have been replaced with concrete or concrete-on-steel solutions. Along with this decline in new timber bridges is the loss of expertise in timber bridge design and construction, and the adoption of new timber construction technology.
Given the continuing efforts underway to develop the market for the use of mass timber in building construction, restoring the use of timber in bridges can complement this effort and help to provide more opportunities for the developing mass timber supply chain.