Building 55' Bridge Across Creek - Utility Poles

[PILOON]

Butyl flashing tape is an excellent way to protect the tops of any type joists.
It does need to be wide enough to allow water to be shed well over both sides of the joist tops.

I once re decked a 40+ year old dock that had metal flashing.
The joists were in such great condition that I, from that day on, always flashed my joists.
There was no sign of any rot under the metal flashing, but then there was great circulation.

 

[gable74]

S..l..o..w.....g..o..i..n..g.

Had some family obligations yesterday so I didn't get anything done. Today I got all the deck boards on, and some screwed down. Tomorrow I will try to get the rest screwed down and the ends ripped straight. After careful consideration, I decided to take the boards as-is, and just rip them down once they are in place. I wanted to be certain I had everything square, and I was just not sure enough of myself to rely on everything I had done to be close enough. Surprisingly, everything laid down nice.

I was concerned I may have to shim a few places but those 2" thick boards made up for any small inconsistencies in the poles. I was also worried that I may get too much bounce in the middle of the two spans after laying 3000lbs of decking on it, but surprisingly it barely moved at all. I feel like I probably could have gotten away with 1.5" boards but these will dry out some now that they are out in the sun. I did not leave any space between the boards as the wood was pretty green, I assume they will shrink some over time and create some gaps.

I had to use the small cart to get the deck boards back there so I was only able to take 10-12 at a time. With a 1/2 mile round trip, it kept things to a crawl.

The task for next weekend is going to be figuring out my ramp for the far side. Its 32" to the top of the deck boards so I am thinking the ramp will need to be at least 12' long to make for a gradual climb. Here are a few pictures from today.

 

[K5lwq]

Looks good! I kinda like the look of the boards uneven. I believe I would not cut them at all.

 

[Gordon Gould]

^^^ I thought the same thing. Looks rustic.

gg

 

[gable74]

Looks a little too rustic in person....lol. Maybe I will compromise and run the chainsaw down the sides without a guide. It will still have that rustic look but a "tad" straighter.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Those appear to be salt treated poles, not creosote. I don't think they even make creosote anymore. I know you can't get them around here. They have been outlawed for years.

I'm curious how you ripped the poles? What did you use?

Creosote poles are still used in a lot of areas particularly wet or swampy areas, the creosote poles will long out last CCA treated in wet areas, there are areas of Louisiana that only use creosote poles.

 

[workinonit]

I haven't seen one here in SC in years.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Here in Florida we only use them on Hi lines in wet areas that are not easily accessible, if it's not we use CCA and in most cases where accessability is not an issue we have gone to Ductile Iron.

 

[Gord Baker]

That bridge will outlast you and anyone you know. Leave the ends as is. They will be the first to rot.
Nicely done Sir.

 

[gable74]

Another slow day as it felt like it was about 105* outside. I managed to get one entire box of 6" lag/screws (qty. 300) in the deck and that was about all I had in me. I did learn rather quickly, that your standard impact gun IS NOT the tool to put those in . I had to break out the 1/2" impact driver to make it work. I put one in with the regular impact, and while it worked, it took forever and would probably result in going through 19 batteries. I did not pre-drill the holes, but those screws drew in themselves well. I have still not made a decision about cutting or not cutting the board ends yet, so they are still ragged.

Got some measurements, walked off the ramp area, and it looks like I can go about 12' before it gets too tight with the first tree. Hopefully that will be long enough for a smooth incline. I will work on that and getting the rest of the screws in next weekend.

I have (4) smaller 10" or 12" utility poles and I will cut (3) of them to length for the ramp. I should be able to get them back there myself once they are cut down to size. I will probably cut the horizontal poles back a little further and use the outside two supports to hold the ramp stringers.

Here are a couple pics until next weekend.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm curious what a "Standard" impact gun is? I've never found anything that I couldn't screw into with my Makita. I just did some 8 inch structural screws with it yesterday.

 

[gable74]

The smaller one on the left works for a few screws, but 300+, not so much. Luckily I had a T30 socket drive and adaptor, so the 1/2" impact on the right worked great.

 

[deezler]

Your decking looks great! Thanks for continuing the updates. My small dewalt impact driver had no trouble with my lag screws in my bridge build - but I pre-drilled all the holes, which surely helped. And I had 20+ year old recycled decking, not nearly as hard as new white oak lol.

For your ramp, good luck. It is going to feel steep. No problem for walking, or a capable 4 wheeler, but.
Your could consider copying what I did on the one side of my bridge that needed a ramp also - cut into the poles and have part of the ramp with your wood decking. In my case it lowered my ramp needs about 6", which if you think about a 12' long ramp, is actually a LOT of dirt saved.

 

[EddieWalker]

The smaller one on the left works for a few screws, but 300+, not so much. Luckily I had a T30 socket drive and adaptor, so the 1/2" impact on the right worked great.

I've never installed 2 inch oak, so I'm surprised that your impact gun struggled. Good thing you have the half inch impact, that looks like a really useful tool!!!

 

[pmsmechanic]

I've never installed 2 inch oak, so I'm surprised that your impact gun struggled. Good thing you have the half inch impact, that looks like a really useful tool!!!

This is off topic a little but I really enjoy my 1/2" impact. The battery lasts forever (well just about) and you can take them anywhere. Every farmer around here has one. You can run out to your center pivot and remove the flat tires 8 rusty bolts and install a replacement without fighting with the rusty bolts.

 

[gable74]

For your ramp, good luck. It is going to feel steep. No problem for walking, or a capable 4 wheeler, but.
Your could consider copying what I did on the one side of my bridge that needed a ramp also - cut into the poles and have part of the ramp with your wood decking. In my case it lowered my ramp needs about 6", which if you think about a 12' long ramp, is actually a LOT of dirt saved.

Good idea!

I could go longer but I would need to angle the ramp a bit to do it. Not sure if it's worth that headache. Also don't think it would look great.

 

[Golden Rocket]

This bridge project is absolutely amazing - I certainly ain't no engineer but what I really like the most is that I feel we have a common POV regarding how "well" to do something - I say that because you have certainly surpassed any thing that would ever be getting used in any public park (having to meet a ton of specs!!). I have a shallow brook to make a crossing over in the future - I know where I am coming to review when I am ready to get at it - part of my 5yr plan for further property cleaning/clearing so we can regaining use of as much as if feasible for use - Thanks for this thread - certainly a great project to have read all the way thru - again, Tks

 

[civilian]

I used a Makita hammer drill to drive GRKs through one 6" x 6" PT into another one. My impact driver would not drive them home. I think the hammer drill is a 1/2" not 3/8". When I was driving 14" GRKs through two 6" x 6" PT into the third, I had to get dad's old steel body 1/2" corded drill with its 2 handles. Don't remember if I predrilled them.

Nice work on the bridge and your terrain. Jon

 

[gable74]

I was able get the rest (about 175) of the screws in the decking today, so I was happy with that. I was going to get started cutting the pole stringers for the ramp, but since I cant work on it tomorrow, I just called it a day. We are taking a trip to southern Va. next week, so tomorrow I need to get the truck ready for the drive.

In trying to workout the details of the ramp, I ran into a decision that I could use some advice with. I was pulling some preliminary measurements, and I just can't see how I can make it come straight down without being too steep. There is a huge pine tree that sits about 16' past the end of the bridge, and if I bring the ramp down straight, there will not be enough room to comfortably navigate around the tree. The only thing I could do would be to shorten the ramp, but then it would be too steep.

My alternative is to angle the ramp to the right and follow the lead of the trail, but that adds a whole different component to the construction for me. I want to think it wouldn't be too tough to do, but in order to keep the ramp square, wouldn't the outside ramp pole stringer need to be longer than the inside one? Wouldn't that also cause that ramp stringer to be higher than the inside one? Can I cut three different length poles for the ramp stringers, angle them, and still have them be level? Or should I just cut them all the same length and deal with what ever angle it ends up being on the ground? Take a look at the pics and see if the way I am explaining this makes sense. The pics are a tad deceiving, but there really is not enough room in front of that pine tree to come down straight and not be too steep. I do not have enough experience with ramps and stairs to be certain of how to angle it correctly and I don't want to ruin my last few poles by cutting them wrong.

 

[gable74]

Or maybe I come down on an angle, keep the stringers the same length, and just rip the decking on an angle.