Bridge for ATV

[txdon]

We then had a wonderful outdoors lunch and Mike is ready to continue on. I take a couple of Motrin and back we go to the bridge.

Mike spreads all the top rock out and then we piece it together like a puzzle.

 

[txdon]

It start to get dark and Mike has to leave.
THANKS MIKE! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The next morning I finish laying the rock and level it out and put fine gravel in between the rocks. Looking good! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[txdon]

The last picture for week 7 is taken from the overlook spot. Mike is standing on the stairs and remarks that it is a lot steeper and deeper than the pictures show.

Next week the installation of the side rocks will begin on the bridge pegs. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[txdon]

WEEK 8
Weather is cold and dreary and it is starting to feel like winter.
The top rocks are leveled and the rest of the fine gravel is set in between the stones. With the impending rain the grouting of the stairs is delayed. More rock is needed for the sides. It seems like for every 5 rocks I had previously gathered only one can be used for the sides.

The attachment is the top which is now finished, except for the railings which must be extended for safety so no one encounters the eight foot drop off. There have been several good suggestions from members in the members get-together forum below.

 

[txdon]

Wroughtn_harv was able to swing by this weekend to see his masterpiece at it's final destination. The metal and rock are emerging like a chick from an egg and the final look is getting closer.

Of course he brought "the best thing about him" with him and we had a great afternoon.
The girls and the guys pose on the most photographed bridge in Lee County.

It is beautiful! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[txdon]

With the impending rain I quickly spread and raked in rye grass all around the bridge for the green look in the middle of the winter, to stop erosion, and for food for the deer, rabbits and cows. I did not get to place any side stones, /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif but there is always next week. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Here is a picture from the middle of the creek with two of the nicest people hoping there will be no flash flood. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[txdon]

This week's ending shot will be a bit different (since this is a tractor forum). When TBN members get together and there is a tractor around you just got to jump on the seat and have some fun! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[GeneD14]

That is a great looking project. You should be very proud of the work that you and your friends have completed. Very nice! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[txdon]

WEEK 9

GeneD14, I am very proud of it. This has turned out so well. It is impressive that all of us TBNers who only met on the internet would meet for the first time, undertake such a intriguing project and successfully put it together.

But it's not complete just yet. On December 4th we will get together again and with one final push and a party attempt to complete it, or at least come very close if we party too much. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif It is more than just a project it is the friendships that have developed by our common interest in tractors, computers and making things.


Now back to work.
This weekend it rained off and on in central Texas and the work so far held up good. The banks of the creek were slippery so this was a good week to gather the extra rock needed to put on the pegs on the side of the bridge.

The rocks were gathered from a relatives hillside down the road. I was looking for just the right size, shape, color and thickness of rocks for the pegs. The tractor could not be used so the old method of picking rock out of the ground was used.

 

[txdon]

The rock was carried down the hill to the trailer.

 

[txdon]

A day's worth of rock collecting.

 

[txdon]

I also got a trailer load of wood just in case we need it for post and railing where the creek bank and the bridge meet.

 

[txdon]

The final picture this week is the first piece of "furniture" moved to the party site near the bridge. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[BB_TX]

Saw the flood warnings for Lee and surrounding counties. Did you and the now famous bridge survive intact?

 

[txdon]

Just got a report that a road nearby is impassable and it rained about 6" in 24 hours on the already rain soaked ground. I'm further south and don't know about the bridge, but I'm not worried. The bridge is probably the best built thing on the land. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[txdon]

Week 10.


FLASH FLOOD IN LEE COUNTY! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Bird]

Looks like that ladder has seen better days. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[txdon]

The The pond further down the gully rose five feet in two days. There were hundreds of thousands of gallons of water that quickly swept under the bridge.

 

[txdon]

Bird, All week I was wondering "Where did I leave that ladder?" I guess the culvert wasn't the best place to store it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Not one rock moved on the bridge. It was perfect!

The water was backed up past the culvert from the dam and was about eight inches deep in the culvert and about 2 feet deep right past the culvert.

 

[txdon]

This weekend I was planing on hanging rock, with all the water, It would be impossible.

What to do? The party is next week.

Well, I headed to the cabin to think, and there in the truck was the answer! I got re-energized, pulled the ladder from the creek, straighten it up, told goathead to hold the ladder....