Concrete Foundations for Wooden Bridge

TWINKLE_TOES · Jul 29, 2001

Glenn,

If you go with the telephone poles be cautious when you cut them. Most of the poles that I have used had a glass vial placed in a hole just above the finished grade of the original pole. The vial was filled with some nasty stuff that would weep into the base to preserve the wood. I have no idea what the heck it is. The yardman warned me when I picked up the poles. In spite of his warning I managed to cut one pole at the vial. It was long since empty and no big deal other than a darn dull chain on the saw. The holes for the glass vial had a wooden plug driven in to seal the hole.

Al

glennmac · Jul 29, 2001

TT, thanks for the warning. Not exactly the kind of thing that's intuitively obvious. In fact, if I go that route, I'll make it a point to ask about the glass.

hayden · Jul 31, 2001

So that's where they got the idea for the new bridge entering the Big Dig in Boston

kadonte · Aug 1, 2001

Saw one years ago in Germany so I just had to build one. Besides whats a pond without a bridge over it.

JonE · Aug 2, 2001

Neat project Kadonte!
Glenn, I would just use a product like Quick Crete with fiber glass reinforcement and forget about the rebar. Use the sono tubes, they work great! My neighbor just put up a 40'x60' steel builing on piers using those tubes. Mixed up every 12" pier with my portable mixer and a generator to run it. It took about 7 bags (70lb high strength concrete) per 12"x4' tube. It went faster than you'd think it would. He also had to place bolts in those piers at exact locations.

Gatorboy · Sep 18, 2001

I have read this entire thread and have a great interest in building a bridge myself. Without pictures, it is sometimes hard to visualize what everyone is describing, but I think I have done a fairly good job.

In my case, the far side of the stream in which I need to build my bridge over, is about 5' higher than the near (low) side. If I keep my bridge level, and use sono-tubes of concrete on each end, how do I build the ramp from the end of the bridge to the ground? I would think I would have to build the abuttment on the low side out of a form, like an upside-down 'U' (when looking from the end) so that I could back fill it in with dirt and gravel to create the slope down from the bridge.

Any pictures of any similar projects would be very useful. After two bids of $60,000 and $38,000 to build a bridge, the use of telephone poles have given me new life, and the hope I can do it myself and save much $$$.

Regards,
Dave "Gatorboy" Hoffmann
Fallston, Maryland

Gatorboy · Sep 24, 2001

Well, I have decided to build my bridge with 40' telephone poles -- 3 on each side. I have found a place which sells poles, but NEW ones only. They said that the electric company has decided to dispose of all used poles (however they do that) and not allow the sale of used ones. A class 2 40' pole costs $490. I need at least 7 of these -- 6 for the stringers and 1 cut in half for each end laid perpendicular for the stringers to lay on.

Does anyone have any other suggestions of where I can find these infamous used poles? Let me tell ya, CowboyDoc made the deal of the century by getting his used poles for $1 each!

Oh, and I also contacted the local phone company, and they do not allow the sale of used poles to the public either. Grrrrr...

Regards,
Dave "Gatorboy" Hoffmann
Fallston, Maryland

TWINKLE_TOES · Sep 24, 2001

gatorboy,

I have been able to get all the free poles I want from my local power company. I didn't go thru the front door, just talked with the fellow running the yard where they stack them. I'm pretty sure if I tried to buy them thru the front door I would have gotten the same answer you did. A lot of the poles lacked the structural integrity necessary for a heavy bridge application. My use has been for retaining walls.

Al

Mark_in_IN · Oct 8, 2001

I did some research at the utility I work at and found out that is is up to individual offices. Some sell them for $1 a peice one place gives them away and others don't sell them.

I'm hoping to get 5 poles for my bridge project. Five bucks for poles, wish I could get the decking that cheap.

mark