Got asked to bid a very unusual project

[quicksandfarmer]

The work spot in your picture looks like a muck spot that a person might sink to their knees in.

My experience is that a sheet of plywood on a mucky bottom provides enough support for a person to stand. You need to weight it down but it takes very little weight to make it stay.

 

[JethroB]

Just thought I’d throw this one out there. HayDude what’s the out-of-the-hole speed of your biggest tractor?

 

[kirkawilson]

Jack-up (spud) barge with jib cranes.

 

[Chewwy]

Just curious. Is that Brandywine Creek?

 

[dodge man]

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This will get the job done, go big or go home.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I was kinda waiting for someone to recommend a helicopter with a big grapple...

 

[garry1p]

There are some good ideas on here and with you on site to evaluate what you can or can't (shouldn't) do I suspect you have a very good idea on how to tackle this job.

After looking at your last picture I think it is very doable but trustworthy help and safety has to be a concern you will have Murphy's law working around you.

 

[CliffordK]

The rails are still there but the ties are rotted. It’s unsafe for people to walk on, but it can be done.
Yes, there’s a large Museum there and care must be taken. Little to no population. It’s rural.
There is a plan in the future for a walking trail to connect this museum to a future museum in the planning stages about a mile up the tracks.

Your’s truly will be bidding that job, too.

But first, we have to get the mess cleaned up and the water flowing freely again.

If the bridge is going to get rebuilt for foot (and bicycle) traffic, and can be rebuilt from the top side, then that might be a good place to start.

You could build a work platform on the bridge where people will be working, but I can imagine why the RR doesn't want a lot of people up there. Not that it isn't built to take hundreds of tons of weight.

 

[2manyrocks]

When they worked on the local bridge, they had a work platform suspended over the top rail that they could raise and lower as needed.

Basic problem with a ladder resting on the pile is the pile can shift unexpectedly and once you take out enough logs, it won't be stable. Looks like enough vertical height to be concerned about the risk of fall. And going up and down a ladder and back and forth across a RR bridge with an iffy floor could be a pain.

So I'd want access I could control either suspended from the RR bridge or a floating work platform and likely a stable boat, too, to cover whatever situation I didn't anticipate happening.

I'd also want a good gas pole saw to be able to reach without risking my body parts to this mess.

I looked for videos of people clearing log jams. What I found are either smaller piles that people can walk up to that they chainsaw apart or big piles that get pulled away with cables and brute force. I haven't found one like this where the pile is in a relatively deep channel and they tried to cut it into smaller pieces to handle before pulling it away.

 

[airbiscuit]

This would help those of us in the peanut gallery.

• Distance from Bridge to pile (Length of ladder).
• Diameter of largest logs?
• Depth of River (3ft?)
• Strength of current during dry season?
• Also, what do you estimate the total length and width of the pile to be (hard to tell perspective from photo)

 

[airbiscuit]

As I understand it, your plan is:

1. Worker on Bridge - Handle rope, hand down saws, sharpen chains
2. You on Pile - cutting logs into small chunks, attaching rope to logs
3. Operator in Excavator - Or is that you later?

This job will cost a bunch. I would recommend having another hand on the shore or in a boat to help and or for safety (small cost in the scheme of things) They can help in ways that are not foreseen in advance.

• So is our plan to cut off all the tops on the pile (and let them float away)?
• Then winch/pull the logs stuck in the mud with the excavator?
• Then hope the current scours the rest of the silt/mud away?

PS: Worst case scenario - If the pile does break away while you are working on it -
Can't you just stand up in the 3 feet of water as long as you are on the back side of the pile?

PSS: I don't think it is going to break away with all the logs stuck in the mud. Dislodging them from the mud will be the greater task.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I would want to be upstream from the pile. I know moving water has tremendous hydraulic pressure. We used to raft 15 miles down a river not far and people have drowned in 2 ft. of water just getting their foot caught between two rocks. Flowing water pulls them under.
Me, I'm thinking that bridge is going to be your best choice. Maybe with winch or cable across river over to shore like a zip line, snag & pull stuff over then cut, load, haul off.

 

[CliffordK]

I would want to be upstream from the pile. I know moving water has tremendous hydraulic pressure. We used to raft 15 miles down a river not far and people have drowned in 2 ft. of water just getting their foot caught between two rocks. Flowing water pulls them under.
Me, I'm thinking that bridge is going to be your best choice. Maybe with winch or cable across river over to shore like a zip line, snag & pull stuff over then cut, load, haul off.

Being upstream from an obstruction with water flowing under or through the obstruction can be extremely dangerous as water can suck a person into or under it.

Being downstream means anything that is refloated moves towards oneself.

Fortunately there doesn't seem to be very high flow in the photos, and perhaps by summer it will be even less.

Ultimately the decision on where to safely position people will require boots on the ground.

 

[Torvy]

How did I miss this thread earlier?

1) Longbow w/dynamite arrow. Maybe see if Hawkeye is out of the hospital first.
2) Grapple launcher with other end attached to winch. Pull pieces out until it breaks up.
3) Hire retiree SEAL to do some demo
4) Get a bunch of guys to fish with heavy duty line. Always bound to snag a non-fish.
5) Dam river upstream. Wait until it is dried out. Have bonfire. Sell tickets. After party, release the dam. Cleanup complete.
6) Build firing range on shore. Only allow AR15, because they are the most powerful, lethal weapon known to man. Eventually, the wood will be damaged enough to float downstream.
7) Tell a bunch of GenZ girls that there are Taylor Swift tickets buried in there.
8) Buy some heavy duty Drones with grapples and pick them up. Or, fly them into the mass with explosives. Apparently, no-one will do anything.

Whatever you do, take pictures!

 

[Eagle1]

Tell a bunch of GenZ girls that there are Taylor Swift tickets buried in there.

 

[two_bit_score]

We need an emoji for spitting coffee.

 

[Eagle1]

We need an emoji for spitting coffee.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Actually, (and seriously ) so many good ideas. If someone was really good with explosives, just enough breaking it loose, it would simply float downstream which it would anyway if it hadn't clumped up.
This stuff really fixed the commode downstairs. Maybe 55 gallons or so?

 

[groundcover]

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[Fuddyduddy1952]

Perfect reason to buy a Sherp !

#1 SHERP ATV Sales – USA. New & Used. Sell on Consignment.

The #1 SHERP ATV sales broker in the USA. Selling new and used SHERPs. View inventory now or call/text: 218.766.3447

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Oh man! I'd love one & who wouldn't?