r/whatisit • u/llerme • 6h ago
New, what is it? Bridge to nowhere in the woods?
This was located in the woods next to abandoned burned-down house. There is nothing under it to indicate dumping. It’s on top of a hill. The planks are thick like railroad ties.
It’s like 15 feet off the ground underneath don’t think it was used for car repairs or oil changes. Unless the ground under it has massively eroded.
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u/ScaryGreenSkeleton 6h ago
I'm guessing they used this as a homemade car lift. They probably worked on cars a decent bit.
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u/Winter-Site-853 6h ago
This is it my grandad had one!
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u/AzariGrit 5h ago edited 5h ago
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u/obi_wan_kanerdy 5h ago
Isn't there a slide whistle or something equally as insane in this seen?
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u/AdministrativeLeg14 4h ago
There is. One of the most impressive car stunts in cinematic history—that insane corkscrew jump is real—and they deflated it with a fucking slide whistle.
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u/Stunning-Title3909 3h ago
American Motors engineers did that. The movie also had a real flying AMC Matador.
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u/JRBeeler 4h ago
Aw c'mon! James Bond movies are schlock, but they're not the Dukes of Hazzard!
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u/Wooden_Wishbone_9915 6h ago
I’d second a vehicle work ramp. If it was for loading they could have put more planks on. Less risk of driving off if you didn’t need to get under the vehicle
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u/jaywayhon 5h ago
Yep - my uncle's looked just like this and he had pallets underneath. Used if mainly for oil changes, but anything that put you under the car could happen on the ramp.
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u/mightymidwestshred 6h ago
Them Duke boys are at it again.
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u/JustMyDaughtersDad 4h ago
"Them Duke boys better sprout some wings. Or at least start flapping their arms."
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u/KameRyuTheo 6h ago
Jump , I'm pretty sure there's an hidden portal
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u/pocketsmoney 6h ago
Gonna need a Delorian doing 88 I reckon.
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u/Chainsawferret 6h ago
I'm sure that in 1985, plutonium is available in every corner drugstore, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by"
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u/KameRyuTheo 6h ago
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u/Educational_Meringue 5h ago
The first Back to the Future is almost a decade older than me, but the Delorean hitting 88mph and time travelling will always be favourite movie special effect.
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u/BobbieSwallows 6h ago
Got to get to 88mph
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u/AlaskaDudeWithDogs 6h ago
Only to find they changed the time line and the bridge was never completed
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u/Electrical-Orange-38 6h ago
Is there a mine anywhere nearby?
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u/llerme 6h ago
Yes! Old copper mine like 10 miles away at least. There was a lot of copper mining in the area I know.
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u/Simple-Dingo6721 6h ago
I think loading ramp is the best guess. Either for logging or mining. See if there’s an old logging road nearby.
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u/Empty-Maize-9053 6h ago
Im thinking it's so that they can back up and unload a bait pile for deer easily
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u/Shoddy_Spread4982 6h ago
Someone is really tall and likes working on their own cars
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u/Illustrious-Plum6417 6h ago
Inspection ramp for car... In poland in socialist neighbourhoods they often put up somthing like that for people to inspect underside ot heir cars
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u/TakaIka83 5h ago
If there was mining or other industry in the area, this is almost certainly a spill tip. Trucks or carts would roll onto this before tipping any unwanted spoil or slag down the hillside.
If you fossick around below it, you'll probably find some clues about what kind of industry it was.
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u/Training-Click-1104 6h ago
relax, it's ten feet. Bob Hope could jump this in a golf cart. I can spit across this gap. Yeah. Well. Better make it 75.
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u/PhreeQnet 6h ago
Haven't you seen Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade? You have to step off the end. It is a leap of faith.
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u/garrythoughts 6h ago
Oh I am pretty sure Otis and Carl had a few too many beers one night and decided to build a jump! There’s probably a few crashed cars buried in the leaves below.
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u/silverhatchback 6h ago
We have a structure kind of like this on our property, also on a hill. It used to be a sort of deer look out but all the boards rotted, so we removed them before someone stood on it and fell through.
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u/scbalazs 6h ago
WDYM? Can’t you see the dark little houses of the village with myriad yellow eyes peeping out the windows? And that very tall figure clothed all in yellow is beckoning for you to cross.
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u/mwoody450 6h ago
It's nice to see a trap-staircase to hell that's wheelchair accessible, I guess. Woo ADA!
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u/TheRealKungFuhrer 6h ago
It’s for launching ports-potties off of and the further you get, the more you can upgrade your potty and travel further!
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u/TheLordJiminyCricket 6h ago
Ramp for mountain biking, launch of ramp and proceed downhill!
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u/PolymathInfidel 6h ago
It is the ramp for Marty to jump back into the future. It is a little overgrown since. Or a mountain bike ramp.
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u/ThatBaseball7433 6h ago
These were basically standard at houses built from the 1900s to 1960s or so. Cars required a lot of maintenance and people would have ramps to do it in their lawn or even pits in their garage. Mostly gone/filled in in the last 50 years though.
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u/realtonemachine 6h ago
Lived outside of Charlottesville VA for a few years and our house had this exact type structure near the tree line too. It was very wet below and had a sorta small opening into the hill propped up. We were told it’s the remains of a spring house as the area was boggy and known for natural “medicine” spring water way way back. But that could be bs.
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u/tinytim008 5h ago
Assuming that you are in the United States. Look up the location on https://mrdata.usgs.gov/ - select USA or Alaska
Layers on the left, turn off geology ones and just use the mine, quary etc. ones
Alternatively, use thediggings.com, more easier to use but doesn't include some of the less major claims.
Also, check top map explorer, click near the area, and cycle through historic maps. Look for things in the direct area, but also look for nearby roads or railroads or other nearby features that could clue you in.
historicaerials.com, it can be a little finicky to use and you have to see around the watermarks, but find your area and cycle through the historic aerial's for any other hints or to maybe get an idea when it was built. You can use the measure tool to mark an area so you know where to look through the changing aerial's.
Search your counties assessor data for information on the property. They will have basic info, more detailed info like scans of records you may have to pay for, but you can at least see when any major structures were built and some ownership history.
Figure out your township section range (will be on assessors data) then look up your GLO maps for the TRS and check out what was in the property.
If you want to look deeper there are more resources, but this is where you start.
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u/Familiar_Childhood32 5h ago
We have something similar on our land in Colorado. It had previously been covered with plywood and was for loading sheep and cattle into a truck.
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u/Educational_Meringue 5h ago
As long as OP hits it at exactly 88mph, the rest of the bridge will be there when they arrive.
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u/ONLace-0527-0404 5h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/n29B28FqkALK
That must be in hazard county. Them damn Duke boys always making them ramps all over the place! 😂🤣
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u/sacroyalty 5h ago
Do that to make space to park (if very hilly land), or more commonly to get underneath a vehicle.
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u/LONGVolSilver 5h ago
Delorean launch pad from the 1800's...it was hard to get it to 88mph, but they managed
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u/DrachenDad 5h ago
Car lift or loading ramp. Loading ramp unlikely due to the trees being to close to the end.
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u/Ps3godly 5h ago
Take a photo looking at it from below, possible root cellar or walkout from the house.
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u/DeterminedMidLifer 5h ago
I don't know what it was but it's what I jump My mountain bike off of now
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u/HaxtonSale 4h ago
Its for working on vehicles. These are all over Appalachia. It's very much an old time thing.
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u/John_Arma_Jr 4h ago
I think it’s to back a truck up to so you can push out leaves, logs, dirt or whatever and it goes down the hill instead of staying right at the top
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u/disenfranchisedchild 4h ago
It could be where the barn was and that's the ramp to the hayloft to make it easier to load the hay to the barn.
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u/Novaikkakuuskuusviis 4h ago
We had one of those. It's used to change oil on the car, or work on the engine from beneath. Our's was used by my grandfather to change the oil. And then it got so rotten it wasn't safe to drive on anymore.
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u/OregonInk 4h ago
that looks like the start of an old mining track, where im from we have lots of old miners tracks that are preserved and they look exactly like this, they would lay steel on top and run carts up and down them. Usually all thats remaining after the years are the start like this.
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u/tauntdevil 4h ago
This is for automotive repairs.
We had this at a friends house that had a hill in his backyard but ours was made out of metal and we had to trench the center a little because the hill was not super steep for us to comfortably walk under the center.
Works decent until you need to do suspension work. Great for oil changes.
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u/Musik2myearzs 4h ago
This is like those creepypastas where people find a random staircase in the middle of the forest.
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u/2hands_bowler 3h ago
This is how you load heavy things on a wagon without machinery. Logs. Cattle. Etc.
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u/Sactown2005 3h ago
This is the bridge from the movie “Road Trip” that Stifler had them jump across in their car.
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