Bridge and more, help and suggestions.

[paintman161]

Update: I got some measurements finally.
the length of the bridge is 38'-1" that is from the last RR tie to the last RR tie (they sit on the concrete shore walls)
From outside to outside flange on the beam they are 8'-3" (a lot wider than i thought)
The beam flange is 13" wide
there are a total of 38 RR ties with about 4-5" spacing.

So what i am thinking is get 39 newer ties and leave a 4" space between them. and then lay 2x10 over that and screw it all down. then do the railing as well.

 

[paintman161]

I was able to get new pictures from underside of the bridge. Looks like they just notched them and the ones that were longer (for the walk area on one side) they used a Spike and just bent it over.

 

[Paul Thornton]

Can't wait to see more pictures, keep us posted.

L2800 w/FEL - 72" Land Pride rake

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

By the look of those, they really subscribed to the "Things don't fall UP" theory.

Personally, I wouldn't take the time to do the notching. Lay the new ties in place, drive in a galvanized lag bolt with a LARGE washer tight to the outside flange of each beam so that the side of the washer clamps onto the flange of the beam. If you can't find suitable washers, you may have to make up some steel plates to do the job. Yes the washer will sit crooked once the bolt is tightened but not a huge deal in this application.

 

[paintman161]

With the beams being at 8'3" out to outside of flage it only leaves and 1.5" over hang. So i was thing lag bolt like you mentioned or getting some simpson plates screw them down to the RR ties and bend the metal over the flange on the beam. Kind of like a "Z" shape.

 

[mjncad]

McMaster-Carr has tapered washers for use with channels and other structural steel shapes with a tapered flange.

 

[paintman161]

It is a lot harder to find decent shape railroad ties than i thought. And you cant buy new ones (treated) unless you are a contractor. Any one else have any other ideas as what i can use for joist- that will hold a 4000 pound tractor driving across it?? I think i may be stuck with buying pressure treated from a lumber yard, Just not sure what size and spacing would be big enough to support a 4000 pds.

 

[radioman]

There are sawmills around rochester area. you could call around and see if any have hardwood beams and paint on preservatives. DIY Wood Preservatives | eHow . There are mills I have driven by in dansville, lyons, walworth, ontario. There is even a listing in craigslist showing pics of large pieces of lumber in back/bottom of pic. I don't know the guy but its worth a try to call and see what he has. Also around here, we have locust wood and this stuff doesn't rot.

 

[paintman161]

A little update on the culvert pipes we had a heavy rain just last weekend and the culvert pipe could not bee seen. They were about 4ft under water, and it was flowing pretty fast as well. Takes about 2 days for the water to go back below the top of the culvert pipes. I had put large field stone to fill in between and gravel on top to level it out and very little actually got washed away. Most of it went right next to the pipes so i just need to shovel back on and put large concrete pieces on it. Which luckily I have some old sidewalk that was dumped there I will use. The pour concrete in between those to lock everything in place, which will hopefully last when it floods again.