Another Bridge!

[Wayne_H]

OK, time to open up another 20 acres or so of land. We've saved this for last since to get to it I needed to span about 26 feet of creek. The last bridge spanned 24 feet, so I was comfortable using 2x12's spliced together for the beams, spaced 20 inches apart.

The beams to do this needed to be at least 28 feet, and that was going to easily be $600 in wood and bolts. Lucky for me, a local steel erector had two 30' long W14x22 beams. They delivered and unloaded them for 600 bucks, so I was in business.

The next part of the project was to move them over the existing paths about a half mile through the woods and existing trails.

After getting the steel close to where I wanted it, I told my wife to dig the footings and poor concrete. In addition to my arms being sore from mixing concrete in the woods, my butts sore now too... Each footing is 2'x2'.

More pulley and winch work and the beams are both in place.

This weekend I'll start putting the deck down. Sorry for all the pics at once!

Wayne

 

[jayste]

Looks good Wayne. No problems with high water? I like the beams! Looking forward to next step.:thumbsup:

 

[Thomas]

Interesting..do keep us updated.

 

[rekees4300]

Wayne good job! I'll be following this thread. I need to build something similar for a creek in the pasture. Currently just have two ramps on each side of the creek that get full of mud and have to be cleaned out every Spring with FEL. Just wondering if you attached the beams to the footings or is the weight of the beams enough to prevent them from being washed away? How deep are the footings? How are you going to fasten the wooden deck to the beams?

 

[spo307]

I have to do the same thing span 30', spec'd for w16x26, able to hold 15k in the center, tractor with backhoe weighs #7500, priced two new beams @ 4750 each still looking for scrap beams, no luck

 

[grnspot110]

Depends on how heavy of a bridge you need, I use an old trailer house frame for a "light-weight" bridge over a pond spillway, probably spans 20-25'. Bolted CCA 2x4's to the frame to nail the oak planks to, then CCA landscape timbers along the sides for an "edging"!

Use it for Mule & JD 790 w/loader & finish mower;

 

[Wayne_H]

I have to do the same thing span 30', spec'd for w16x26, able to hold 15k in the center, tractor with backhoe weighs #7500, priced two new beams @ 4750 each still looking for scrap beams, no luck

Wow!!! That is crazy. These were scrap, I think they may have been tweaked slightly, but not too much. I did look at using an old trailer frame from a semi, almost bought it. This is more work, but I think it will be better in the long run.

This weekend I am putting 2x6 lumber over each beam so I can start putting the decking down. I'll bolt the 2x6's to the beam, then run the deck on them. Pics will tell the story.

Wayne

 

[fishpick]

I told my wife to dig the footings and poor concrete.

Best part of the whole dang story that nobody commented on... the fact you are here to write after that - way more impressive than the bridge

 

[rekees4300]

Best part of the whole dang story that nobody commented on... the fact you are here to write after that - way more impressive than the bridge

I didn't comment but was thinking Wayne is a lucky guy. Can only imagine my wife's reaction if told to dig footings and pour concrete

 

[kennyd]

Nice job Wayne, look forward to seeing it soon:thumbsup: