Concrete Foundations for Wooden Bridge
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cowboydoc
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That's exactly how I built my bridge except I used telephone poles and instead of building ramps like they did I buried it level with the ground and I didn't put rails on it. I have had zero problems with mine.
Mark_in_IN
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How many poles did you use? How much did you span? Where did you get them from? Does anyone know if poles would span 25 almost 30 feet & at that distance how many poles would you need.
mark
mark
cowboydoc
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Mark,
On the one I did with telephone poles I used six poles. The span that I had was about 18' over the creek itself. The telephone poles were 30-40' each. I got the poles from my local utility company for $1 each. They had some there that were taller than 40'.
On the one I did with telephone poles I used six poles. The span that I had was about 18' over the creek itself. The telephone poles were 30-40' each. I got the poles from my local utility company for $1 each. They had some there that were taller than 40'.
MarkV
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Glenn,
Sounds like you are getting many good ideas. If you are going to use concrete, even with sono tubes, it is alot of mixing. Most concrete companies give you "X" amount of time to unload a truck with no charge. After that point, you could keep the truck and pay a bit extra. Where I am going, is it realistic to have a truck come in and shuttle the concrete to site with your FEL. We often do this with a skid loader when there is no way to get a truck to the site.
MarkV
Sounds like you are getting many good ideas. If you are going to use concrete, even with sono tubes, it is alot of mixing. Most concrete companies give you "X" amount of time to unload a truck with no charge. After that point, you could keep the truck and pay a bit extra. Where I am going, is it realistic to have a truck come in and shuttle the concrete to site with your FEL. We often do this with a skid loader when there is no way to get a truck to the site.
MarkV
Mike H
Silver Member
Glennmac: The bridge you're looking at doesn't have to carry too much load so you're 4x12's should be fine. As an approximation, 2-2x12's on 12' posts will carry about 500 lb/ft or 6000 lb uniformly distributed over the 12'. Your load won't be uniformly distributed, but you'll have at least two beams. I'd space them so your vehicle drives over the beams - otherwise, the 2x6's will easily be the weak link.
I've been playing around with Sonotubes for some foundation work this summer. I put 12" dia. tubes on 2'x2'x12" footings. Mixed with a small portable mixer. For a 60" column it took about 45 min. I used 1/2" rebar in both the footing and column. With this little load, I'd just stick the bar in the column after you've got enough concrete in it to hold it in one place. I'd use a foundation bolt to attach to the beam. Use an 18" bolt so you're at least 6" into the concrete. If you don't put a footing under the 12" column, depending on the bearing strength of the soil, this could be the weak link (w/ poor soil, the column may only carry 1,000 to 2,000 lb ).
This is just based on beam/column design. I'm afraid I don't have any experience designing for washout.
p.s. from a beam bending standpoint, a 4x12 is close to the same as a 10.5" dia. pole
I've been playing around with Sonotubes for some foundation work this summer. I put 12" dia. tubes on 2'x2'x12" footings. Mixed with a small portable mixer. For a 60" column it took about 45 min. I used 1/2" rebar in both the footing and column. With this little load, I'd just stick the bar in the column after you've got enough concrete in it to hold it in one place. I'd use a foundation bolt to attach to the beam. Use an 18" bolt so you're at least 6" into the concrete. If you don't put a footing under the 12" column, depending on the bearing strength of the soil, this could be the weak link (w/ poor soil, the column may only carry 1,000 to 2,000 lb ).
This is just based on beam/column design. I'm afraid I don't have any experience designing for washout.
p.s. from a beam bending standpoint, a 4x12 is close to the same as a 10.5" dia. pole
Alan L.
Elite Member
The problem with a dirt swale is that mine keeps washing away. I put more dirt in from the bank and after a rain its downstream. Of course this means I'm sending my dirt downstream. Either a concrete swale or a bridge would be in order. I like those pictures of the one that was done in Oct '00. I'm only worried about putting all that work into it and having the first flood wash it out. I wonder if putting some sort of spoiler on the upstream side would make the water pressure go over the bridge.
Alan L., TX
Alan L., TX
Doc,
Could you clarify how many poles you used. In one post you seem to indicate 3; on the other, you indicate 6. I may have located some telephone poles, so the next question is how many should I use. I'm assuming 3 (and probably even 2) is enough for a loaded up compact tractor and small trucks. The other issue is the ability to withstand overflowing water conditions. A 6 pole bridge would be a lot heavier than a 2 or 3 pole bridge.
However many poles you used, did you find no difficulty nailing the crossboards because of the uneveness and undulations in the poles?
Could you clarify how many poles you used. In one post you seem to indicate 3; on the other, you indicate 6. I may have located some telephone poles, so the next question is how many should I use. I'm assuming 3 (and probably even 2) is enough for a loaded up compact tractor and small trucks. The other issue is the ability to withstand overflowing water conditions. A 6 pole bridge would be a lot heavier than a 2 or 3 pole bridge.
However many poles you used, did you find no difficulty nailing the crossboards because of the uneveness and undulations in the poles?
cowboydoc
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Glenn,
I used three to span the bridge and I used the other three to put on either side of the creek. I anchored those in the ground cross ways and then layed the other ones on length wise across the creek. I then got some re-rod and cut it off at 6 foot and pounded these through the poles to hold them in place and a little anchoring into the ground. Then I buried them in the dirt so that it was all even with the grade on both side and then nailed my boards on top. Almost exactly how the one guy did his excpet that I used the telephone poles instead of the big beams.
I used three to span the bridge and I used the other three to put on either side of the creek. I anchored those in the ground cross ways and then layed the other ones on length wise across the creek. I then got some re-rod and cut it off at 6 foot and pounded these through the poles to hold them in place and a little anchoring into the ground. Then I buried them in the dirt so that it was all even with the grade on both side and then nailed my boards on top. Almost exactly how the one guy did his excpet that I used the telephone poles instead of the big beams.