How to move a bridge?

[MarkV]

I am wondering if you should not contact an engineer to look the bridge over before doing anything else. If you are building a house and the bridge will not handle concrete trucks or fire trucks it isn't what you need.

MarkV

 

[radioman]

When I first saw the bent metal- I am thinking are you sure you want to salvage it? Are there any other cross members bent ? they look bolted/riveted on so replacing it looks easy. Just time consuming. I'd clear the grass away more so you can inspect it closer. It looks worth saving, but If it was me, I would take the sides off and transport it that way so its condensed and legal without going through the headache of a permit. This way you can place the cross beams one at a time at the new place and replace that one bent piece instead of messing around with rams.

 

[PILOON]

I can only see lots of $$$ here.
Transport
Sand blasting
Replacement of damaged/bent pieces
Painting
Etc.
While the photos may trick a bit, I seem to see more bent or stressed members than first meets the eye. Even the top lengths look stressed to me.
I'd suggest taking all the dimension specs of the beams along with photos and measurements and visiting an engineer to get an opinion B4 committing any $$ to the project.
While the triangulation design looks OK at first glance there might be a serious week link at some specific critical location.
That was not abandoned for no simple reason.
OK, might set U back couple $$ but it could save you tons $$ in the long run.

 

[Kernopelli]

We used to own a portable building business and moved 12" wide loads regularly and the permits were negligible...want to say it was $80/week about 20 years ago. However in good 'ol Illinois, they have made licenses and permits a gold mine for state coffers. Right now a permit for a load that is over 8'6" wide but under 12'W X 115'L is $500/ week according to the IDOT permit site. I would say that locally here, a flat bed transport should be able to be negotiated for considerably less than the permit on a 30 mile move. I too think a decent size wrecker or even an excavator could get it loaded/ unloaded w/o much problem. Maybe the bridge owner has some equipment that he would be willing to use to assist in loading. Heck, you may be able to jack it up and back under it to load....we have done this with some big, heavy structures. I would definitely have it checked out by an engineer to make certain it will be suitable for any/all conceivable loads you will subject it to in future years.....a concrete truck was an excellent example. The engineer can also tell you the best way to set it's support, piers etc. Yes decking will cost you some money and need future upkeep but around here there are enough saw mills that will custom cut your logs or sell rough sawn oak for far less than dimensional lumber prices that I wouldn't automatically rule that out either. You'll have some money wrapped up in the end but you are going to no matter what way you go. I think you can potentially come out way ahead on this one, just have to get your ducks in a row and do some research on everything involved and try to get a good estimate on final costs..

 

[BrentD]

Ok, I'm having another thought here. Everything on this bridge is bolted together. Granted it is fairly rusty, but most of the bolts are strait rather than bent. I wonder it it might be better to do at least a partial or maybe even complete disassembly and move it a few pieces at a time over the course of a few weekends.

I'm thinking a few cans of liquid wrench a generator and a heavy duty impact wrench should make fairly short work of it.

 

[MarkV]

Personally I'll be very surprised if Liquid Wrench and an impact wrench will take that bridge apart. I would be more incline to torch the old bolts off and reassemble. That said, I think that once you break that structure apart putting it back together will be a real task. The thing is already "tweaked" enough that lining things up once in pieces will be a nightmare.

MarkV

 

[beeforty]

I agree with Mark V about the engineer surveying the bridge. I put a bridge on my property and they have to be rated for 25 tons or so mainly for FIRE TRUCK response in case of emergency. I had a neighbor whose old wood log bridge was marked as "DO NOT CROSS" at the FD. House caught fire, they pulled up to bridge and started dragging hose out. Result, they just kept it from burning up the neighborhood, house totaled. You also don't want your delivery people having to worry about falling through, nothing like haveing someone refuse to drive your bridge and unload on the other side and leave And as he also said about tweaked pieces if unbolting them, I pryed alot of stuff apart with a little work, but have had a **** of a time trying to pry it back together:laughing::laughing:

 

[MarkV]

Hey, I don't want to say this is a bad idea, I don't know. I do like the look of the old steel bridge structure. There have been people on the forum though that have related stories where insurance companies dropped homeowners insurance because entries would not meet the needs of local emergency services. Sure worth looking into, in my opinion, before committing to the bridge.

MarkV

 

[KWentling]

I would guess that the bridge was too narrow and that was the reason it was removed. I agree, an engineer would be the first step. If it won't support a fire truck, and I doubt that it would, don't even consider it. Even though the bridge is pretty cool, I think a culvert set up of some kind would be more practical, and maybe even cheaper.

Kim

 

[HarryVanderpool]

I would not waste one penny on that "bridge" until you run the engineering on the spans for load and deflection.
From the pictures you posted, I would not trust it to hold a horse and buggy.
The truss design is faulty, as is the compromised bottom cord.
You need the down and dirty facts before wasting an incredible amount of time and money on a piece of junk. :thumbdown:
Call a local enginnerring firm, e-mail them the photos and ask them for a price to calculate load.
I'll bet that they send you looking somewhere else.