Creek Crossing

[Kodiak]

Ah yes that sweet little word creasote. It has made it nearly impossible for a public utility to dispose of anything containing it, to the general public.

 

[fortyseven2n]

Guys , thanks for all the responses !!!!

I have not been able to get back to this forum for a couple of days so man what a surprise !

To answer some of the questions , here goes ....

Yes I have a 1947 Ford 2N tractor . I also have a 1953 JD 40 and a 1952 Ferguson 30 . No compacts right now . Would love to have one but just can't justify the cost right now .

The water is usually no deeper than 6-12" during the wet months but only an inch or less during the hot part of the summer .

Utility poles are almost impossible to come by around here . I do have some buddies at the local power company and THEY can't even get them !


RR cars and rails are also hard to come by around here . I may be able to find a flatbed trailer from a tractor trailer .

Gas tanks would work but are impossible to come by because of all the EPA regs.

Permits are not an issue because of the location . Nobody wil know unless I tell or you guys tell !

The creek runs from one end of my property and runs into a river on the other end so I own all of the land that would be effected by any flooding . The crossing is in the creek bottoms and they usually flood a couple of times a year anyway .

I have a co-worker who is doing some trackloader work for me next weekend . I may get him to cut me a ford . That sounds like the safest and cheapest thing right now . I just want to be able to get my tractors to the rest of my land so I can maintain the old roadbeds for deer hunting .

Thanks again for all of the posts !

Fortyseven2n

 

[Woody1]

I would HIGHLY suggest to NOT use the RR steel for a bridge. I have looked into that before i used a culvert to make my stream crossing. The RR steel is carbon steel and is NOT made for free weight support. It will develope cracks midline and eventually split. Its fine for a walk bridge but will not support a bunch of weight without support under it , just like a rr bed with the ties. Had DNR out here to advise me on this issue. Had them out when i 1st bought the place to see if any monetary things were available to help reclaim the forest and make it look better. Been working closely with him whenever i have any questions, ie trees to keep....bridges/culverts/stream crossings etc.
The RR steel has very little strength by itself and i would reconsider this idea, or at least do some HEAVY research into the structural strength of it comparfed to the load you plan on putting on it. Consider any heavy trucks that may deliver material to your place in the future as well. Dont forget the weight of a cement truck in the future. Who knows, you might need one for future projects. advice.....DONT USE THEM FOR A VEHICLE BRIDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (at least without support under them) they look and feel strong and heavy, but are weak compared to thier weight.

 

[centex]

I don't know where you are located but I have a creek about like yours. There used to be a bridge across it but it washed out due to flash floods. There are 24"x24" concrete piers from the old bridge 100' downstream so there is the real possibilty of any kind of bridge or other structure that I could build washing out without warning so I just ford the stream at times like this when the water is low and drive the long way around on the highway when the water is too high to drive across. For the same reasons I just build temporary fences close to the creek because I know they are going to be washed away sooner or later so I make them a cheap as possible.

 

[jtcweb]

I have a similar situation except my creek always has at least 18" of water in it. The DEQ (new name for the DNR) takes a real interest arround here and wont let you put in a round culvert. One suggestion I had was to get an old mobil home frame and use it to span the creek with a concrete slab/pier at each end. There is a guy that recycles mobil home less then 5 miles away and I talked to him and I could get one for about $400. I still would have to come up with some kind of decking, but I have a friend whoe is an engineer so we are going to spec out some I beams and see what that route woudl cost as well.

 

[Soundguy]

Box culverts are one idea. They are approved for bridge use.

Another idea is to lay a fey culverts, ( metal or concrete ) in the bed, with the flow, then backfill or concrete over them and make a solid path. Make sure you have enough culvert to handle the flow. The concrete culvert will be more expensive.. but will also help to add to structural integrity, and require less backfill. Many concrete culverts are also wire reinforced as well.

Soundguy

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I think I'd think twice about using the materials from a mobile home frame for a bridge supports. And the four hundred dollars seems a little high unless of course he was going to deliver the frame to your creek.

I'm thinking the last time I bought some twelve inch I beam it was less than five dollars a foot. And I'd bet that I beam would be three to five times as strong as a mobile home frame.

I once built a tilt trailer out of a mobile home frame. I'd participated in the salvage and clean up after a double wide burned to the ground. It worked fine for that but I just can't imagine using it for something as serious as a bridge.

Mobile home frames are strong. There's no doubt about that. But they're sorta like those engineered floor beams. They are only strong when they're used exactly for what they're designed and installed accordingly.