Building my tractor bridge across the creek

[Gord Baker]

Very well thought out and erected. There are many ways to do this, you did good! I would bury the telephone pole cut offs upstream ahead of each bridge abutment.

 

[Gord Baker]

Very well thought out and erected. There are many ways to do this, you did good! I would bury the telephone pole cut offs upstream ahead of each bridge abutment. You would have to get a Permit (never happens) from our out of control Conservation Authority in my area to do that.

 

[deezler]

Thanks, grumpycat and Gord. It was a fun project and is holding up well so far.

 

[fried1765]

In Canada!
EVERYTHING....... must be permitted!

 

[LouNY]

In Canada!
EVERYTHING....... must be permitted!

About the same here when visible, when not visible they can kiss my ___.

 

[Darvish]

Very handsome bridge.

Based on my experience, despite the fact that the 'phone pole are fresh and well treated, in 15 or 20 years you will wish that you had obtained some aluminum flashing to cover the poles, individually, beneath the deck.

Even double heavy roofing felt will deteriorate. Over 20 years.

I used some good countersunk heavy-Zn lag bolts, (on the deck) so with a little ambition, I could follow my own advice, but I figger they'll last "as is" the short while longer that I'll be giving a damn. (77, but who is counting??)

 

[deezler]

Yeah you may be right about that Darvish. I suppose my bridge will last a good long time, but at some point I will probably lose confidence to drive my tractor across it. Hopefully the fasteners don't rot too quickly, and then it will be straightforward to disassemble and rebuild - assuming my footers/abutments hold up.

Had a major flood test last friday night. Just posted another thread about having to repair my gravel driveway, which has never washed out from rainfall before (6+ years now). I think we got between 5 and 6 inches of rain, with most coming in a very intense 3 hour period.

The next morning before starting on my driveway repair, the kids and I took a hike back to inspect the creek. I knew I would need to wear my waders. Came over the hill and this is how the trails looked in the forest:



Looking at the mud-stained leaves of the weeds and bushes on the trail sides, I could see that the water had already come down about a foot! But the bridge survived, thank goodness.



If you look closely you can see foam remnants on the bottom side of the phone pole - they were clearly getting washed hard with flood water. The front/upstream cinder block got washed pretty hard also. I think I will need to place some armoring in front of it for future protection.

My little temporary footbridge didn't fare as well, and it blew down the stream a bit. Time to yank it out already.



This was the most intense rain, and highest creek flooding I have ever seen on this piece of land, in over 8 years of observation now. I'm feeling truly relieved and grateful that nothing really got damaged. Mother nature is a powerful force.

 

[kenmbz]

Glad your main bridge survived, you put a lot of work into that.

 

[deezler]

New visitor for my bridge. The troll approved our crossing, thankfully.

 

[BackRoad]

Congrats, if that is a new addition to the fleet Mr. Deezler.

 

[deezler]

Yep, thanks. I did a little semi-impulsive upgrading a couple days ago. Made a full story post in the Kioti buying section.

 

[bdhsfz6]

A very well thought out project. Great planning and execution!

I would dearly love to do something similar with my creek. Even though it's my land, the busy body landowner nearby calls the DEP every time I come near the creek with the tractor.

A DEP permit requires a design by a professional engineer, a stream flow study and a stream encroachment assessment. The permits will cost literally 5 times what the construction cost will be.

You're lucky to be in an area where these regulations aren't a problem.

 

[Bearsixty7]

A very well thought out project. Great planning and execution!

I would dearly love to do something similar with my creek. Even though it's my land, the busy body landowner nearby calls the DEP every time I come near the creek with the tractor.

A DEP permit requires a design by a professional engineer, a stream flow study and a stream encroachment assessment. The permits will cost literally 5 times what the construction cost will be.

You're lucky to be in an area where these regulations aren't a problem.

Any idea what the fine would be if you just built it and they found out? Not the preffered method but big brother is just way too involved in many matters they shouldn't be and charge WAY TOO MUCH for their "work".

Sometimes better to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission!

 

[deezler]

A very well thought out project. Great planning and execution!

You're lucky to be in an area where these regulations aren't a problem.

Thank you. My bridge is hidden in the woods in the middle of my own property, thankfully. And my neighbors keep to themselves. I can't see why anyone should care anyway, if you build it A) way up out of the water or highest flood level, B) nice and permanent to avoid risk of downstream damage from failure, and C) zero pollutants or sedimentation occurs in the water as a result of your construction. It's YOUR property, and you have a right to use it by accessing the other side of a small water feature - in my opinion.

Who knows how I should have permitted this one; I decided not to care and assume that since this little drainage ditch was not "navigable", that no permits were then required. Better to do it, claim ignorance and beg forgiveness later, than to by stymied up front with a web of unachievable permits.

 

[EddieWalker]

Any idea what the fine would be if you just built it and they found out? Not the preffered method but big brother is just way too involved in many matters they shouldn't be and charge WAY TOO MUCH for their "work".

Sometimes better to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission!

A friend of mine back in CA worked for the City of Oakland and he really enjoyed fighting city hall. When he retired, he started working on projects on his land that he had been putting off. One of those things was to dig a pond. He didn't get any permits, even though they where required. CA wants a permit for everything!!!! After it was done, they came after him for not having a permit. His reply was that it was already there and he had just cleaned it up. He did the same thing when adding a culvert to a creek crossing and drilled his own well. Apparently, they had to prove that none of those things where already there, and he was just restoring them and making them safer.

I'm not advocating that anybody violate the law, or do something without a permit when it's required. But if you are just fixing something, or making it safer, then you really shouldn't need a permit.

 

[yanmars]

There are aerial photos and dates of almost everything today. I am surprised they could not show a before and after. On my farm different photos even show where I have mowed some paths.

 

[deezler]

There are aerial photos and dates of almost everything today. I am surprised they could not show a before and after. On my farm different photos even show where I have mowed some paths.

Thats why you never ever clearcut, and only select cut hardwoods. Full shade all day long, on my bridge.

 

[Clintock]

I went with an old trailer. 22’ long to cover my little branch. Was gonna use 12x12 bridge timber’s and deck it. Glad I went with the metal trailer. You can see why in second pic. The timber’s kept floating down the branch.

 

[powdercreek]

Hey Deezler, I'm new here. Been reading about the bridge you built over your creek. Wanting to do the same but need to know how you dragged those utility poles across the creek. Thanks

 

[deezler]

Got your PM and answered there. But in case it helps anyone else too:

Yeah, I wish I had stopped to take a picture of how I did that step - I was too flustered after getting my tractor unstuck from the creek bottom. Here's a crude doodle of it below:

I dragged the poles into a staging position one at a time, as close as I could to the bridge footers on my near side of the creek. Drove up and set my loader down atop the near end of the pole. Chained it up super tight to the loader bucket (pallet forks might probably be better? I didn't have ssqa on my old tractor) - basically like making a boom pole setup on your loader. I couldn't lift the whole pole up in the air, but I could shove it (lifting as much as my little tractor could, to help). So I shoved it up on top of my near-side bridge footer, and then kept going to basically guide it across the creek and finally just above the footer on the far side of the creek, then just set my loader down and unchained it. It worked amazingly well! Any questions, let me know.

I think the same principle will work well with your MX6000 since you have much more loader capacity than I did. But also twice the span. Good luck! Take pics and make a thread here on the forum if you want to get a lot of good advice (and also some bad advice too lol).