Railroad Tie Support Weight

[oosik]

Spot on - Diggin it. I have purchased/used rr ties from Lowes for landscaping and paid around the same amount. I would NEVER use a tie from Lowes for bridge support. I purchased my real ties directly from the rail road purchasing department. They were brand new, gooey, smelled of creosote and heavier than the Empire State Bldg.

It took extreme effort, many four letter words and my tractor to place them in the holes I dug. If I lived to be 500 years old - I would still be able to see these few ties doing their job along the critical points of my fence line.

 

[LD48750]

2000# over 6' is NOTHING for a RR tie.

ONE tie could support that weight.

You will have at least two ties under your tractor and the wheel base on most tractors is over 6" so you will only have one axle on the ties at a time.

Use them & quit worrying about it.

 

[goeduck]

Put three RR ties down if that gives you better reassurance, deck it and be on your way. It would not be how I would do it these days, but it would work. I probably could not legally put our railroad trestle timbers down today due to environmental regulations. We did it probably 30 years ago.

 

[RalphVa]

We had some more rain yesterday. Water was really gushing over the tractor crossing this morning. Got concerns putting in that same location. Water could erode the end supports and would very likely take out any culverting.

Looked again downstream. Think I can lay down some 8' 2x12s doubled, pair at sides and pair down the middle on top of 4x4 and them bolted to it to hold them in place, topped off by 2x6s. There appear to be some detents there in the bank, fully grass covered to set the 4x4s onto. Can plop more soil at ends and seed/sod for approaches. Water will only get to it there with the huge overflows, one in 2003 and two this year. Think I can keep it from floating by putting some steel poles angled at the corners.

Ralph

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I built a 12' span bridge with 15" switch ties #3 grade. Set 3 stringers on 12' ties parallel to the bank embedded in compacted crushed gravel. Anchored the stringers to the sills with 12" steel form pins. Ties are set on edge versus flat. Decked it over with 2" rough-cut fir planks nailed down w/6" spikes. Drove my 1 ton dully with 5000# of gravel over it for a test. Never moved or bowed. whole project cost less than $400.

#3s are 3 good sides and not rotted. I buy at a RR salvage place and get to select the ones I want. Most of their stuff comes from abandoned lines, realignments, and repairs. Once they have been in service they are never re-used. Stay away from the ones at the big box stores, lumber yards, and landscape places. They buy the culls of the used market.

Where the OP lives there should be a similar place to buy. There are a lot of railroads still operating back there. Heard that they are starting to use composite material from recycled plastic for ties now; also piling. No rotting or borer problems. I have used piling for retaining walls in days gone by.

Ron

Sounds like an awesome bridge for a low cost.

 

[Streetcar]

We had some more rain yesterday. Water was really gushing over the tractor crossing this morning. Got concerns putting in that same location. Water could erode the end supports and would very likely take out any culverting.

Looked again downstream. Think I can lay down some 8' 2x12s doubled, pair at sides and pair down the middle on top of 4x4 and them bolted to it to hold them in place, topped off by 2x6s. There appear to be some detents there in the bank, fully grass covered to set the 4x4s onto. Can plop more soil at ends and seed/sod for approaches. Water will only get to it there with the huge overflows, one in 2003 and two this year. Think I can keep it from floating by putting some steel poles angled at the corners.

Ralph

Can you put in a 15 or 18 on nah culvert and cover with concrete. The concrete would protect from erosion during high water

 

[BHD]

the tie if in good condition will easily support the weight,

 

[Diggin It]

Can't post any links but I recall some posts about using various old frames from truck or trailer beds as the supersrtucture. Seems like I even remember one where they used the steel underframe from an old mobile home.

Not sure where you'd get one, how you'd get it hauled and located or what your budget might be.

 

[Deere Dude]

We had some more rain yesterday. Water was really gushing over the tractor crossing this morning. Got concerns putting in that same location. Water could erode the end supports and would very likely take out any culverting.

Looked again downstream. Think I can lay down some 8' 2x12s doubled, pair at sides and pair down the middle on top of 4x4 and them bolted to it to hold them in place, topped off by 2x6s. There appear to be some detents there in the bank, fully grass covered to set the 4x4s onto. Can plop more soil at ends and seed/sod for approaches. Water will only get to it there with the huge overflows, one in 2003 and two this year. Think I can keep it from floating by putting some steel poles angled at the corners.

Ralph

A built a bridge spanning about 10 feet using barn 8 or 10' beams. Everything was going hunky dory until the Mississippi backed up and the water rose a few feet around the mid 90s. Luckily I was able to wade out to my neighbors field about 1/4 mile away and float it back into place. But it rotted out on me anyway. Stake it down because running water has a lot of power.

 

[DrRod]

Can't post any links but I recall some posts about using various old frames from truck or trailer beds as the supersrtucture. Seems like I even remember one where they used the steel underframe from an old mobile home.

Not sure where you'd get one, how you'd get it hauled and located or what your budget might be.

I've been looking into a bridge just big enough for ATVs. My neighbor has a couple of stripped down mobile homes and a 40' trailer with a crack in it. I would be fine with any of them. He feels confident that we can just push them across. Lots of neighbors have trucks or trailers to haul them to the site. I'll keep you posted if we ever get the project started.