Small bridge project

[LD1]

Looking good:thumbsup:

Keep us posted with pleanty of pics

 

[BoonvilleKid]

Western, ya did the right thing with a small bridge vs a culvert. One heavy rain, carrying brush, mud and debris will quickly plug a culvert. When this happens the water has no place to go except over the road. Soon the gravel is gone and the road washes away.

 

[Western]

Thanks guy's, wish we had more time to "get her done"

For this spot, a culvert actually was discussed for about 3 minutes! No real road and he doesn't want that much intrusion (Bulldozer and other equipment) and this is "WAY MORE FUNNER"!!!

 

[bindian]

I love it. A friend of mine wants me to put a bridge in my driveway and build another pond and connect it to my existing pond under the bridge. That would be so neat but a lot of work.
hugs, Brandi

 

[TripleR]

Western, ya did the right thing with a small bridge vs a culvert. One heavy rain, carrying brush, mud and debris will quickly plug a culvert. When this happens the water has no place to go except over the road. Soon the gravel is gone and the road washes away.

We put in a 36" culvert and everything goes right through. All bridges in my area are being replaced with culverts by the state and county without any issues.

 

[Western]

We put in a 36" culvert and everything goes right through. All bridges in my area are being replaced with culverts by the state and county without any issues.

Same here in my county TripleR, but usually because it's cheaper.

 

[bironacad]

uh, why didn't he just put down a small culvert? Cost would have been less than what you've got into it already with a lot less work. In the time you dug the pier holes, you could have had a culvert in, backfilled and graded. I paid $400 for a 42" x 20' steel culvert (built to state highway standards) delivered to my site. Backfill sand cost another $100 or so. And that little creek looks a lot smaller than what I was spanning.

What an take away the fun of building a bridge, lol. What are you thinking?
:thumbsup:

 

[rd_macgregor]

You might want to keep an eye on the center supports when the first big run-off comes. A debris dam can build up really fast and put a huge sideways force on a bridge as well as diverting flow against the banks and eroding them faster(known as scour).

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/HighwayOps/Structures/bridge%20operations%20and%20maintenance/PreventiveMaintenanceManual/BPMM/streambeds/streambeds.htm
BOB

 

[dstig1]

Perhaps you have this all planned out, but why would you put a center support in the middle of the creek? It would seem far better to free-span from bank to bank. That looks like it could be asking for trouble if that stream ever floods or gets fast moving water.

I'm thinking of the Schoharie Creek bridge in Upstate NY years ago (like late 80's) where the water got fast and a bit high and took out the support pillars in the creek bed, taking down an interstate freeway bridge. It wasn't like super flood stage either, but the point is that footings in the waterway need to be carefully setup so they don't get undermined by fast moving water. Yeah you aren't building an interstate bridge, but the problem could be the same...
Schoharie Creek Bridge collapse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It just doesn't seem worth the risk to me, especially for a short span.

 

[Western]

Thanks for you comment guy's.

Debris will be a maintenance issue for sure, So debris removal will be expected on occasion. This creek is dry 90% of the time, but can get up after heavy rains. I think if it was a constant flow of water with the hydraulic action continually working against the bridge, it would be worse.
The few times a year he will use this to drive his tractor over, will give ample time to inspect and deal with any issues. Had we not hit rock (piers), it would have been different.

 

[Western]

Finally had some time to work on the bridge. We got the approaches done except a little dirt work. Only thing left is welded "clips" for bolting the treated lumber down, priming and painting.

No short rails yet, but they are probably coming.

This dude is strong, I have no reservations about driving a pickup over it at all.

 

[sailorman]

Man, that baby looks good !!!!!! You could drive a lot more than a tractor over it !

 

[boggen]

wow! nice doing with the wood planks to fill everything in! then the grating to help any snow ice melt through. along with getting rain water off of it!

 

[gwjd]

if ti were me and it was well within your porperty

i would skip the railings all that will do is make something 2 wide for the bridge like a brush hog or tree trunk

 

[Western]

Thanks for the comments.

If we put the rails on, they will be short ones and/or removable. The bridge is only 8' wide ,so with his widest trailer he only has 1' of "wiggle" room. I figure if he's crossing with a load of wood and some how the trailer gets off the side, it could pull him off potentially. I doubt that would ever happen, BUT.

The rest of his implements (for now) are around 4', So he's good there. (24 horse Kubota)

 

[beeforty]

Nice looking bridge:thumbsup: What size grating did you use? Was it hard to come by? A neighbor used all grating down the road from me for his decking, it is a all galvanized, two lane bridge. Have you thought of tying the ends of the pipe together in case someone gets close to the edge so they won't start bending down one at a time?

 

[Western]

Nice looking bridge:thumbsup: What size grating did you use? Was it hard to come by? A neighbor used all grating down the road from me for his decking, it is a all galvanized, two lane bridge. Have you thought of tying the ends of the pipe together in case someone gets close to the edge so they won't start bending down one at a time?

beeforty,
Thanks, The grating is 1"x4"x1/8th mesh. size of the sheet was 2'x20'. We found it at the steel yard, most of them here have it or will get it. The thicker mesh was more $$ and the galvanized was even more. These where $302 each.

I had mentioned it to him (the edges), they are pretty solid. They are 16" out past the I-beam, the I-beam is set to the width of his Toyota P/U wheels (just over 5+').

It would take allot to bend that thick wall, 2 7/8's pipe.

 

[atgreene]

Looks great! I'm looking at building a bridge on a new piece of property. I wanted a culvert, but due to leaf damns in the fall and snow, slush and ice in the spring there's no way a 3' culvert will work without flooding a huge area and potentially washing out around the culvert.

Good job!

 

[Western]

Looks great! I'm looking at building a bridge on a new piece of property. I wanted a culvert, but due to leaf damns in the fall and snow, slush and ice in the spring there's no way a 3' culvert will work without flooding a huge area and potentially washing out around the culvert.

Good job!

Thanks atgreene for the compliment.

Culverts are nice and somewhat cheaper, but situational and they aren't fool proof.

 

[Western]

I had realized I never put a final photo on after Eddie mentioned it. The neighbor and his brother had finished the wood and the bridge turned out great. I went today to look at it after the flooding we just had and the bridge took it with no problems. This bridge sure turned out stout (sp)