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:

 

[Wayne_H]

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

Yea, actually it was a great team effort, we both worked like crazy! Can't wait for this weekend to put some wood down. Bolts arrived yesterday. Good excuse to get up early Saturday morning!

Wayne

 

[Wayne_H]

OK, today was a great day. I got up at 0500 and starting cutting the 2x6x12's into 72" lengths. I also installed the 1/4" steel braces just so this thing does not decide to flop over. The W14x22 steel is 14" high, but the flat part is 5".

To do the deck, I installed 2x6 along the entire length of the steel. Every 6' I put a horizontal 4"x6"x8' for the railing. I used 3/8 inch galvanized bolts to secure it. That took a few minutes to install the wood to the steel. ... I had to drill 50 3/8 inch holes in the steel. Thank God for 18 volt dewalt drills and the drill doctor to keep the bits sharp.

The deck went down FAST. Kenny D suggested I buy the dewalt DC825KA 1/4 in 18V Cordless impact driver. What a beast! The thing is small, light weight, and is FAST!!!! Must have an RC car engine in it or something. Great tool.

OK, here are a few pics. Next step is to figure out railings.

 

[rekees4300]

Lookin' good Wayne! :thumbsup: A few minutes to drill 50 holes in steel ... must have used a laser drill bit!? Did you attach the I-beams to the footings or not necessary?

 

[Wayne_H]

The beams rest on the footings. I thought about putting J bolts in the footings and doing that, but this thing is so heavy I can't imagine it will be an issue. And getting that lined up with 30 foot beams....

For the 3/8" holes, I drilled a pilot 3/16" pilot hole with a commercial stubby bit, then use the 7/16" to bore it out. Actually went well, but I havw red marks now on my shoulder and belly from putting weight on the drill. I ended up with two of the DeWalt drills, so I did not have to change bits too often.

Wayne

 

[joes_427_vette]

What do you figure the weight limit is for machinery crossing the bridge ? If I built one I would check into a flat bed semi trailer and trim to size. That way I could get the bachhoe over it without holding my breath. Not as scenic as yours but a little more rugged. Did you have to get any permits ? Where I am they require a couple, county and DNR. Seperate permits for each crossing on the same stream. Costs are in my opinion outrageous.

 

[kennyd]

Looking good Wayne:thumbsup:

 

[Thomas]

Nice very nice.

 

[Wayne_H]

What do you figure the weight limit is for machinery crossing the bridge ? If I built one I would check into a flat bed semi trailer and trim to size. That way I could get the bachhoe over it without holding my breath. .

Well the steel is W14x22. It is vertical portion is 14" high, the horizontals are 5". It does not flex or move with the RTV on it, and that weighs 2000 pounds. A large CUT would have no problems, I'm guessing it would hold 8k easily.

Wayne

 

[rd_macgregor]

I wondered about buying a marine shipping container and cutting the top off. I don't know if the walls/roof affect the strength of the floor. Better would be to find a "flat rack" shipping container (basically a regular container without the sides and roof). If I remember correctly, these containers are rated at something like 30 tons. Regular containers usually come in 20ft and 40 ft lengths. I've heard that the longer ones are even sometimes cheaper than the shorter, because the 20 footers are more in demand. Also, I think you can get one in the US for roughly $2000...sadly, I haven't come anywhere near that price out here in the Canadian hinterlands.

An alternative pre-fab bridge would be a deck from a trailer or flatbed truck that has been wrecked or otherwise become disabled.

I'm still shopping around in hopes of finding a ready-made solution so I won't have to buy and put all the pieces together myself...though it looks like you and your wife did a great job.
BOB

 

[Wayne_H]

OK, I had some 3/16" plate laying around, so I made up some triangle plates to bolt the vertical supports for the rail. I put two plates per post with four 4" lags in each. Actually went quite well!

Wayne