DIY decorative bridge: how to make, ideas, types of designs, materials, step by step instructions, drawings and photos

You can place a decorative bridge on the adjacent plot in different places. This original object that adorns the landscape is made of wood, metal, stone. Simple designs are available for DIY.

garden bridge design

Any kind of decorative bridge installed on the site should organically fit into the landscape.

Construction types

There are several types of original decorative objects:

1. Direct flooring. These are the easiest decorative structures to manufacture, mostly wooden, although even slabs can be cast and installed on the site. A transition from laid metal or wooden rails to which the dies are fixed is suitable.
   
   
2. Often, direct bridges are equipped with railings to ensure safety. If you make handrails from wooden bars, then you can quickly assemble such a convenient design with your own hands. The bars should be sanded beforehand so as not to provoke hand injuries when moving.
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3. To give expressiveness to a decorative composition created from a simple model of a crossing, for example, through a dry pebbly stream, and amplifications of charm in the evening provide for the installation lanterns.
   
   
4. Stepped bridges. More often they are direct decorative transitions, in which steps are provided for convenience. This technique allows you to facilitate movement, as it does not create high drops.
   
   
5. Arched bridges. Even a slight bend of the load-bearing bars gives them a lightness and an elegant look. Such varieties look good, for example, over an artificial dry stone stream.
   
   
6. If you strengthen the pots on the railing, where flowering ampelous plants are planted, they get a bright accent. Such a bridge becomes the main decorative decoration of the site.
   
   
7. Zigzag shape. Such a bridge for giving allows you to equip a vast territory, giving it an unusual look. Individual modules are laid, fixing to the supports, creating a zigzag line that facilitates access to several objects on the site at once.
   
   
8. Hanging bridges. An original decorative garden crossing over rough terrain of this type is constructed from ropes stretched between supports. The flooring is fixed to them. Handrails are often made of rope.
   
   
9. Step by step crossing. This type is represented by separate fragments. These can be large boulders that mark the passage through the stream. Movement requires caution, as you have to step from one module to another. For safety, they provide for the installation of durable railings on the sides.
   
   

Design of garden bridges depending on the material

The decorative characteristics of crossings and transitions arranged in the garden depend on the material.

Tree

Wooden bridges attract with beautiful texture and ease of processing. This leads to a variety of forms. It is necessary to provide a protective coating to prevent the rapid destruction of the material that is not resistant to moisture.

A few examples:

1. Even simple types of bridges with openwork decorative railings become a decoration of the landscape.
   
   
2. It will allow a small bridge of a simple form, made of wood, to ennoble a shady corner, if you install it near the flower beds, symbolizing the coast.
   
   
3. A bridge thrown over a shallow stream will fit well, for the flooring of which halves of logs are used.
   
   
4. A charming decorative viaduct is obtained if birch trunks of medium thickness are used for its manufacture. It is important to preserve the birch bark, which creates the impression of a cozy natural corner. Such a bridge will fit well into the shady space created by overgrown vegetation, and will also serve as a crossing over the formed ravine. When working, it will not be necessary to carry out laborious operations, and the result will please with an interesting shape.
   
   
5. It will be useful in the construction of a decorative crossing such affordable material as flexible willow branches. You don't need any special skills to work with them. The base flooring can be made from planks attached to guide rails. They fix to them, observing the necessary intervals, vertical supports, which are braided with branches. The result is an openwork, well emphasizing the surrounding natural flavor, design.
   
   
6. If trees grow on the adjacent plot next to the reservoir, the option of a solid bridge made of logs will be interesting. Such a decorative object becomes part of a space filled with freshness, emphasizing the charm of natural intonations.
   
   

Metal

More durable bridges made of metal have an attractive decorative look. They serve for a long time if anti-corrosion protection is provided.

Some options:

1. Originally, a bridge made entirely of metal fits into any landscape. The charm is enhanced by openwork railings.
   
   
2. It is possible to install crossings with metal profile flooring. It will last a long time without losing its decorative characteristics.
   
   
3. Since metal decks get very hot in the sun, they are often made of wood. Forged railings are perfectly combined with this material.
   
   

Stone

The stone bridge differs in durability and durability. When creating it in the garden, different ideas are used. In any case, such an object becomes a decoration of the site.

Some varieties:

1. The stone slab will fit well into the design, for which a dry decorative stream is made of large pebbles. The banks are boulders of various shapes.
   
   
2. It is possible to build a bridge across the pond on a concrete base, lined with stone tiles.
   
   
3. An interesting design demonstrates a decorative transition through a garden stream laid out of several layers of stones. Several boulders set off the coast serve as a support.
   
   
4. Flat, elongated stones laid vertically on an arched base become a decorative part of the landscape. At the same time, a convenient bridge is obtained over a shallow ravine.
   
   

Concrete

The construction of a durable concrete viaduct requires a lot of effort, but the result will please with durability and interesting decor. The plasticity of this material belongs to the advantages of concrete. It is possible to cast the desired configuration of the bridge after the formwork has been installed. At the same time, the large weight of the structure is taken into account.

A few ideas:

1. An arched version of the passage through the stream, made of concrete, does not require additional decor. It turns out the original art object.
   
   
2. The most accessible type of crossing will be a concrete slab. It is laid in a designated place, for example, over a rocky decorative stream, providing a solid flooring.
   
   
3. A concrete slab with a low railing enhances the charm of the neatly trimmed lawn next to the decorative pond.
   
   
4. The beautifully shaped step bridge fits perfectly into the green area, giving it a feeling of comfort and tranquility.
   
   
5. It is possible to lay out the bridge from pre-cast individual concrete blocks.
   
   

Other ideas

The combination of materials gives unusualness to decorative crossings created on the site through relief irregularities.

Several variants:

1. If it is planned to ennoble a dry stream laid out of beautiful smoothed stones, the base of the humpbacked bridge is made from the same material. Polished wooden dies are fixed on top of the cement, which are coated with a protective varnish.
   
   
2. The original decorative nuance is brought by chains that are used for handrails. They are fixed on vertical slats, which are attached to the base of the flooring.
   
   
3. Common varieties include the arrangement of durable metal railings along the edges of the wooden roll. Their elegant openwork enhances the charm of the surrounding landscape.
   
   
4. The arched bridge acquires original decorative intonations, in which LED lighting is equipped on one side of the forged lace railing. It provides an unusual view of this object with fantasy notes in the dark. The flooring, for which light pine planks are well suited, enhances the charm. The railings are coated with a special paint that protects the metal from corrosion. For flooring, moisture-proof impregnation is required.
   
   
5. For a stepped version of the crossing over a pond, paved with stone, the installation of forged railings, resembling a curved stem of a fantastic flower, becomes an original technique. On the one hand, the bud replaces the round ceiling, which provides evening lighting.
   
   

Basic styles

If the landscape of the site is equipped, focusing on the rules for creating any style, then when choosing bridges, its features are taken into account.

A few examples:

1. The gardens, equipped with elements of the Japanese style, are admired. In such a space, all the parts that make up the composition are harmoniously combined. They create a sophisticated atmosphere, pleasant for contemplation and setting for reflection. The basic elements of such a landscape include a reservoir, large stones, many beautiful plants. A graceful arched bridge fits in well, which stands out not only due to its shape, but also due to its bright shade.
   
   
2. Connoisseurs of restraint and elegance should equip a garden with elements of a prim English style. It is characterized by a large number of flowering plants. Necessarily there is a well-groomed emerald lawn, comfortable paths, a pond, various hedges. An elegant bridge is thrown over a pond with overgrown banks of plants.
   
   
3. Laconic, close to nature, not accepting synthetic decor, the Scandinavian style allows you to make the yard very cozy. Characteristics are coniferous and deciduous plantations, the presence of stones. The walkways thrown over the reservoir make a simple form. Often they do not have railings.
   
   
4. Eco style is characterized by complete immersion in the natural environment while preserving the plants, stumps, boulders, streams, hills present on the site. Simple slightly curved wooden bridges across the stream without openwork railings and with simple cladding will organically fit into such an entourage. They can serve as a continuation of a path paved with stone tiles.
   
   

Preparatory work

For installation on the bridge site, a place where a beautiful decorative view will be provided is suitable. Then they think over the form, draw up a diagram, prepare the material and the necessary tools.

Which place to choose

For a bridge that performs a decorative and practical task, a place is marked on the site where there are irregularities and drops in the relief. Often they are specially equipped.

Several options for places where such an object will look harmonious:

1. The organization of the crossing through the stream flowing on the site. Here such an object becomes a necessity.
   
   
2. Creating a decorative composition in which the bridge becomes part of the track.
   
   
3. Arrangement of bridges over a small depression resembling a ravine.
   
   
4. Construction of walkways across a natural or hand-made decorative pond.
   
   
5. Installation next to the flower beds, which will look like shores overgrown with flowering plants.
   
   
6. Arrangement of the composition, which is a dry rocky stream with a bridge thrown over it.
   
   

We prepare tools and materials

To make an unusual decorative bridge with your own hands, you need to think over its design. Then they draw up a drawing, where they indicate the required dimensions of all components.

Evaluating the instructions and types of material, consider that it is easier to make the next bridge out of wood.

It is necessary to prepare:

1. Bars for the base (cross section 23 x 10 cm) - 4 pcs. The length depends on the area where the installation of a decorative transition is planned.
2. Boards for crossbars. Their width is 15 cm, thickness - 2 cm, length - 100 cm.
3. Planks - spacers (2 pcs.) 15 mm thick, 80 cm long 
4. Self-tapping screws (galvanized).
5. Clamps.
6. Joiner's glue.
7. Screwdriver.
8. Saw (jigsaw).
9. Metal crutches. Choose a length of at least 50 cm.

If you plan to create a small concrete bridge, then prepare:

• plastic boxes - 2 pcs.;
• steel bar Ø 6 mm - 2 pcs.;
• plastic clamps - 8-10 pcs.;
• flexible aluminum wire;
• cement M500;
• sifted sand;
• acrylic paint (brown and beige);
• ropes.

Assembly instructions

To make a decorative bridge for the garden with your own hands, follow a gentle sequence of actions. Choose a simple type of design that does not require much time for construction.

Wooden walkways

Given the easy processing of wood, such an object can be made within a few days.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. In order to give the future base of the decorative bridge the desired curvature, stakes are driven into the ground, orienting them so that a beam can be laid between them.
   
   
2. To ensure flexibility, the bars are first soaked in water. Then they are inserted between the fixed stakes, connecting in pairs. For fixing use wood glue. They are clamped with clamps, and self-tapping screws are screwed in to ensure a stronger connection.
   
   
3. Hold until the resulting bend acquires a static shape.
   
   
4. After complete drying, the prepared curved bases are inspected. Identified chips, potholes, cracks, as well as joints between the bars must be puttied.
   
   
5. Cut cross bars to desired size. For this bridge, pieces of a board of a meter length will be required.
   
   
6. All edges (longitudinal and transverse) are processed by making a 45 ° bevel.
   
   
7. For a decorative bridge 0.8 m wide, two strips are cut off - spacers of the appropriate length. They are fixed with screws along the edges of the bars, creating a frame. Drill two holes in the planks.
   
   
8. Set the frame for the decorative bridge to the selected location. The soil is pre-levelled. For fixation, metal crutches are driven in through the prepared holes on the transverse slats.
   
   
9. A flooring of transverse boards is attached to the frame, leaving a small gap between them. To avoid the appearance of rust, galvanized self-tapping screws are used.
   
   
10. This is continued along the entire length of the decorative bridge being made.
    
    
11. To ensure the protection of the tree from destruction and decay, the structures of the bridge are impregnated with special compounds. It can be varnish, drying oil, waterproof paint.
    
    

Simple miniature concrete bridge

The production of such an object does not cause problems.

Algorithm:

1. They make the basis of the future crossing. To do this, the side walls of two plastic boxes are removed using scissors. It remains the bottom and four corner posts. Between themselves, the blanks are connected with plastic clamps.
   
   
2. Steel bars are bent, forming arches of the desired shape.
   
   
3. Screw the curved rods, using a flexible wire, to the sides of the connected blanks. To keep the racks level, stretch the wire between them.
   
   
4. The concrete mass is mixed from M500 cement and sand in a ratio of 1: 2. Water is added gradually to obtain a uniform viscous consistency. Distribute the concrete over the frame. After this operation, leave it for a day.
   
   
5. After 24 hours, cement is applied from the inside, and then the front surface is leveled.
   
   
6. When the solution sets a little (after 2-3 hours), strokes are applied, performing a wood texture on the flooring. On the beams they make an imitation of masonry. Leave the blank for drying for 5-8 days.
   
   
7. Remove excess cement with a stiff brush. Spread a layer of brown acrylic paint mixed with a primer.
   
   
8. Then a light paint is applied with a sponge, oriented to outdoor work.
   
   
9. After the paint layer has dried, the rope handrails are pulled.
   

The miniature finished bridge is ready for installation on the site.

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There are many ideas that allow you to understand how to make a decorative bridge. They create such attractive landscape-decorating objects from different materials. If you found the information contained in the article useful, share it on social networks. If possible, tell us about your experience in making garden bridges in the comments.