Culvert Redux

[Harv]

<font color=blue>I suspect that if water goes over the top, it will still wash out the gravel behind the facing.</font color=blue>

I have no doubts you are right, oh battle weary culvert man. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Actually, I thank you for reminding me, Glenn -- the theory is that every culvert should be designed with a "Plan B" for the water path 'cuz sooner or later they all overflow. The generally accepted method for this is to provide the equivalent of a swale which runs more or less parallel with the culvert pipes. With careful planning, the swale should catch the excess runoff, possibly at the expense of a little road damage, but save the culvert from washing away.

I have made a half-hearted attempt to achieve Plan B, but I should probably take a more serious look at this next time I'm up at the property.

BTW -- the attached picture shows another part of my creek I have yet to deal with. The model (my 9-year old daughter) is there to show the scale of the bridge. I bet this more closely approximates your creek situation. Unfortunately, my budget doesn't seem to approximate yours. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

 

[Gatorboy]

I would love to see a picture of your bridge. I too need to build a bridge crossing a stream. I have an estimate from a local guy of $38,000.

The quick synopsis is:
He would build two concrete abutments (sp?) on each side of the stream, and use 3 steel I-beams to lay across. Thus, never touching the stream. Then, perpendicular to the I-Beams would be many 8x8 wood beams. The bridge I need to build would be approximately 35 foot long. The bridge needs to be strong enough to allow cement and fire trucks to cross.

I would like to find a cheaper -- yet viable solution if possible.


Regards,
Dave "Gatorboy" Hoffmann
Fallston, Maryland

 

[glennmac]

Harv, your picture is irrefutable evidence that you copied my secret wooden bridge design!

Gatorboy, my bridge is 20' long and 12' wide, but only spans a 6'-8' gap. It cost $2k. I'll publish details tomorrow in another thread. I could have done it for far less cost with telephone poles, had I been able to find any used ones. The telephone company here will give them away, but they didnt have any at the moment. And even if they have used ones, you dont want to take ones in bad shape.

How much of a gap do you have to span? How long are the proposed I beams? Telephone poles come in 5 different diameters in lengths at least up to 40'. If that's long enough to span your gap, I think 6 telephone poles might equal three I beams.

 

[Von]

Gatorboy,
You might find some old beams from one of the many highway bridges that are being replaced. You would have to pay to have them trucked in and set in place. But you might get them for next to nothing if they are just going to scrap them out.

 

[Harv]

Gatorboy -

As you can see in the picture attached to my previous post, I have a bridge that I'll sell you cheap. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

As is, of course.

 

[scruffy]

a used rr flatcar can be picked up rather cheaply. It will support the fire trucks etc.

 

[glennmac]

<font color=blue>picked up rather cheaply</font color=blue>

Yeah, about $10,000 per day for the necessary monster crane.

 

[scruffy]

Glenn, last one I was involved in putting in, we didn't use a crane, just a D-8 CAT, took about 3 or 4 hours....but whatever.

 

[Gatorboy]

The actual gap is about 15-18 feet wide. The telephone pole idea has given me new hope that a much cheaper alternative is out there. Looking forward to seeing the details of your project.


Regards,
Dave "Gatorboy" Hoffmann
Fallston, Maryland