Bridging a Creek

[glennmac]

I need to bridge a creek to get to get to 8 acres of my land (the working of which being a justification for my recent B2910 purchase).

The creek meanders through flat land, composed of soft soil. It is like a wetland. The channel is about 3 to 3 1/2 feet deep and the width varies from 6 to 10 feet. It overflows slightly maybe every 3 years, and the channel will alter slightly after high waters (the bank cutting away slightly and redepositing).

I have 2 bridging methods in mind and would appreciate any other thoughts. This bridge needs to support the weight of my tractor, and tow trucks to rescue me from my bogs. Also, the only work force is me and my tractor. Not hiring someone to do these jobs was, again, justification for these projects.

The first potential method would be to lay two 20' telephone poles across the creek and to nail 2x6's across them. I guess I would try to bury the poles in shallow trenches. This raises the issue of how to manipulate the poles across an acre of land and get them across the creek and positioned.

Second, is to try to drop into the channel a 12' length of that plastic culvert pipe and cover it over with stone or some other kind of fill. The pipe will be easy to roll around, although I may have to cut the channel with a hand shovel to get it staight. This method raises the issue of whether is it strong enough to support vehicles, and whether the water try to channel around the culvert through the soft soil.

Thoughts would be appreciated.

Glenn

 

[gordon]

Glenn there is some great info on this link for both road building and crossings---http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/accessroads/accessroads.htmMight give you a few more idas hope this helps
Gordon

 

[scruffy]

How about a ready made 20 foot flat bed trailer (old truck trailer)? They can be found for next to nothing, and if the wheels are still on it, locating it would be a cinch, as well as 'sinking' (burying) the ends to make it level.
You would not disturb the waterway to any extent, and it would definately support your tractor. Up north, railroad flatcars are quite frequently used. The problem with wood, is it will need to be replaced down the road due to rot.

 

[Bird]

glennmac, my brother had his tank ("pond" to you Yankees) enlarged considerably this past winter and left an island. He plans to use two 28' utility poles as you mentioned, and 2 x 6s to make a foot bridge to the island. He will get onto the island first with a small boat, then pull one end of the poles over with a come-along attached to a tree on the island. Can you cross that creek and attach a winch of some sort to something to pull one end of your poles across? And of course, the B2910 can pull the poles down to the creek. I'm afraid I'd always wonder when the wood was going to rot enough to drop me and my tractor in the water. I think in your situation, I'd consider a large culvert (or even two culverts) as the preferable choice.

Bird

 

[TomG]

In fact, there's a 40' flat bed trailer used as a bridge not far from us. We did think about using one for a deck on our 40' construction trailer. However, the tires and running gear on an available logging trailer weren't quite bad enough. You can buy quite a few building materials for what any sort of serviceable axles and tires are worth.

 

[scruffy]

TomG, I wasn't suggesting leaving the running gear on. They can be resold, or better yet, deal with the seller for the bed alone w/out running gear/tires.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I built an arched bridge across the stream at the back of my property to allow access to my land on the other side. The bridge has a 28 ft span as well as ramps at both ends, for a total of 44 ft. It is 5 feet wide and made out of 2x4 pressure treated lumber with 2x6 pressure treated decking. The lumber was laminated with epoxy and screws to make the beams. I drive my B2400 across the bridge without any problems. If you would like further details and some pictures (before the railing was put on) go to:

http://www.connix.com/~aboursy/bridge.html

A bridge like this may be more of project than you are planning.

Andy

 

[glennmac]

Andy, that's a beautiful bridge, stream and property.

I have an arched bridge over my creek. I had it built by the Pennsylvania Dutch carpenters, who also built my gazebo. The bridge is 16 feet long and was supposed to be 60" between the railings. I had a lawn tractor in mind when I ordered it.

Problem is, it is only 54" between the railings. This bridge limited my tractor choice decision for a long time. I could have gotten a 2410 over it (with no room to spare) but not a 60" mower. Then I decided the heck with the bridge and bought my 2910. Now nothing fits over the bridge, and hence I am posting about a vehicle bridge.

Well, I still have a pretty footbridge near my gazebo and swing, and I can build an ugly vehicle bridge farther downstream.

I have thought about the trailer bed approach, but I don't know where to look for one. Actually, I did find one by chance at a dealer, but it had about a zillion tons of axles and wheels and flat tires and rotted flooring.

 

[Keoke]

Gordon, address for bridge building tips doesn't seem to work. Could you give it another try?

Thanks,
george

 

[jyoutz]

Don't know how much you can spend. We use old railroad flatcars for logging truck bridges. We use precast concrete abutments which are just set into place on the ground to make the entire system temporary and portable. For log trucks we have to deck the cars with wood to get the desired width, but you wouldn't need to for your use. Sometimes you can pick these up for a few thousand $, and sometimes not-just depends on what's available

 

[TomG]

Guilty, my tongue was slightly in my cheek at the time. Yours is a perfectly good idea. I mostly wanted to say that trailer beds really are used for bridges around here. Apparently in jyoutz's area as well (can't remember if the 'j' is Jim').

Of course, if we had used a trailer for a deck, the easiest way would be to get a beat up trailer, drive it to the site and then sell the running gear. However, our deck doesn't have to support vehicular loads, and the building materials for it weren't that much.

 

[scruffy]

You may consider putting an add in your local paper, You'd be surprised at the stuff people have out there! Trucking companies, farmers, etc have old flatbed's sitting around that they have no further use for, many of them to old to refurbish and can be had for a song. A few years ago, I came across 4 or 5 old 20 foot R/R flatcars! Now those things were old (even the old steam engine was there) around circa 1905.

 

[gordon]

Here is the Link again http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/accessroads/accessroads.htm Its actually a link dealing with road building that has some topic on wetland and culverts. Hope it works for you this time.
Here is the link for the directory of different http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/fth_pub.htm publications that they have to offer---great stuff---.
Gordon

 

[jyoutz]

Tom, Jim it is.

 

[Keoke]

Gordon, real good stuff on the site you pointed us to.

thanks again,
george

 

[glennmac]

For the benefit of any future readers of this thread, I decided to go with the culvert option, and my project is described in detail as part of the thread entitled "Culvert Project".

 

[DennisY]

I have a similar situation on my place. I used telephone poles decked with 2x8's. I also put upright posts about 8' from the ends to minimize bouncing. I don't know about your state laws but here in Maine the Environmental Protection Dept. does not like culvets very well. My bridge has been in place for over 20 years and other than periodic replacement of decking (used lumber) it has worked well.

 

[glennmac]

Dennis,

My double culvert bridge washed away 3 times and I am now back to the wooden bridge approach. Am interested in finding out more about your telephone pole bridge.

1. How many poles did you use?
2. Did you set the ends on concrete or right on the dirt?
3. Did you anchor them somehow to the ground?
4. Do they have any tendency to float or wash away during high water?
5. How much weight or how big vehicles do you take over them?
6. No rot in 20 years?
7. I don't understand what you mean by the upright poles. Could you explain again.

Glenn

 

[GlueGuy]

Have you considered a simple concrete bridge?

Phase I
You can build an abuttment on each end easy enough with concrete/rebar/netting. Make each side big enough to support phase II.

Phase II
Build "troughs" from 2x4 and plywood. Make the troughs about 8" wide or so, and at least a foot high, maybe a little more. Close off each end and punch at least 4 half inch holes alligned vertically and evenly spaced. Run 1/2" rebar through each of the holes, thread each end of each piece of rebar, apply nuts & washers, and apply tension with a set of come-alongs on each piece of rebar. Fill the troughs with concrete, and let them cure for at least a week, 30 days is best, and keep them moist.

Phase III
Undo the come-alongs, & dismantle the plywood/2x4 forms. Hard part is getting the plywood off the part that's sitting on top of the abuttments.

Phase IV
Place planks or whatever across the (now) pre-stressed concrete beams. Build an approach to each end.

Want pictures?

The GlueGuy

 

[Harv]

GlueGuy -

Can't be sure if your tongue is planted firmly in your cheek, but I have seriously considered making some 8 or 10-foot prestressed concrete beams for a variety of projects. The part I was not clear on was how much you'd have to stretch the rebar to yield the proper "stress". Do you have any real information on the subject?

My plan was to form the beams in a place that was convenient to work in, and then deliver them to the project site with my trusty 'Bota. That would limit the weight of each beam to maybe 800 pounds or less. At 150 lbs per cubic foot of cured concrete, that would be some pretty small beams, but big enough for my purposes.

And Glenn -- last year I saw a guy near my property offering a flatbed railroad car for sale. I couldn't fathom who would buy such a thing until I joined this board and learned what a great bridge such a thing would make. I cruised by the guy's place again this year, and the car was gone. Guess somebody has a nice new bridge around there somewhere.

Love to have seen how they transported it and dropped it into place. I have a hunch that's where the real expense went. I don't suppose your bridge site is accessible to a portable crane, is it? /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif