How to move a bridge?

[BrentD]

We recently had the dam on our pond/lake/stock tank reconstructed after it washed out about 5 years ago. The new dam has a spill way at the end. Since we're making preparations to build a house up on the hill above the lake which will require daily driving over the dam and spillway we're trying to find the best options of crossing the spillway. While talking to the rep from the local electric co-op about our plans while he was out helping us decide on the best rout to get power up the hill, he mentioned that a man he did a recent job for had an old bridge that he wanted to sell that would be perfect to span our spill way. Me being technology oriented proceeded to use the rough directions to the bridge site that the guy gave me to find it on google maps' satellite view.

After verifying that that was indeed the location and the bridge, we drove out to the site today to take a look at it. In my opinion, the bridge is absolutely beautiful in the way only rusty old works from times past can be, and true to it's time period it is built to last forever and then some.

The question now becomes is it feasible to move this bridge 30 miles, and if so, how much is it likely to cost? Since these questions are impossible to answer without pics, without further ado here they are:

If you'll notice from the third pic, the bridge is already sitting on what appears to be the from of an old truck or trailer of some sort, although only one end is still up.

My idea was to just lift the bridge up, bolt a couple of axles under it and secure a hitch of some sort to the front and pull the bridge down the highway like a parade float, at night or in the wee hours of the morning to avoid most traffic obstacles, of course.

Now, the other concern is that the bridge was damaged slightly in moving it from wherever it used to rest to it's current location:

I'm thinking that damage can probably be mostly corrected with liberal use of a hydraulic ram of some sort.

So, good people, what are your thoughts? Would we be better of to just buy the frame from a mobile home (Which we can get for what the person selling them would have received from a scrap dealer) and construct the bridge from scratch?

 

[smiley]

You didn't mention the size but it's obvious someone moved it before. You photo's where so big I couldn't load them all on dial up but from the position of the wheels, I would imagine they moved it with a road tractor. Is there any sign of where a fifth wheel might have been attached to the front? That would probably be the easiest way to do it. Get a 5th wheel and some tires on it, check width/height problems, hook up before sunrise on Sunday morning and drag it home with escorts if necessary. As for the damaged beams, I think they'ed be easier to cut out and replace than to straighten.

 

[BrentD]

The width is roughly 12 feet, length at least 20 feet. The trailer does appear to have been a 5th wheel type that would connect to a road tractor, though the trailer is in really bad shape.

 

[milkman636]

I think I would get an estmate from a house moving or rigging company. They would have the equipment to jack the bridge and slide some good running gear under it. They would also know about permits/rules that may apply to hauling that wide of a load.

 

[Ductape]

Call a couple area towing services. Looks like a decent medium duty wrecker would be able to move that. Tell 'em they can do it at their convenience to save you money. If you aren't way out of the way, they should be able to swing by when they are in the area for something else to survey the situation.

 

[BrentD]

I guess the next question would be whether a 45hp dozer would be able to maneuver the bridge into place once we have it on our property?

 

[doall]

I agree with ducttape about how to move it. and a 45 horse dozer should do fine. (as long as you don't have to shove one end off in your void and pull it up the other side)

 

[cmhyland]

After you get the price on buying the bridge, and having it moved, and most likely a crane to set it in place.... Find out if there are places in your area the precast concrete bridges and the cost with delivery and set in place. Not the look of the old steel but that steel bridge still needs to be decked and that's not cheap either.

Also the steel and it's decking will require ongoing maintenance and offer significant weight restrictions for the size vehicles crossing... I wouldn't want to see a full concrete truck cross that..

Example:

Pre-Cast Concrete Box Culverts ? Keystone Pre-Cast Concrete Products

 

[tlbuser]

it's a wide load move which around here would be expensive just for permits and escorts. Wouldn't be surprised if it was 2500 to 3000 to move.

 

[forgeblast]

just wondering if it would make it more stable to move it if you bolted some type of decking down.

 

[MarkV]

I am wondering if you should not contact an engineer to look the bridge over before doing anything else. If you are building a house and the bridge will not handle concrete trucks or fire trucks it isn't what you need.

MarkV

 

[radioman]

When I first saw the bent metal- I am thinking are you sure you want to salvage it? Are there any other cross members bent ? they look bolted/riveted on so replacing it looks easy. Just time consuming. I'd clear the grass away more so you can inspect it closer. It looks worth saving, but If it was me, I would take the sides off and transport it that way so its condensed and legal without going through the headache of a permit. This way you can place the cross beams one at a time at the new place and replace that one bent piece instead of messing around with rams.

 

[PILOON]

I can only see lots of $$$ here.
Transport
Sand blasting
Replacement of damaged/bent pieces
Painting
Etc.
While the photos may trick a bit, I seem to see more bent or stressed members than first meets the eye. Even the top lengths look stressed to me.
I'd suggest taking all the dimension specs of the beams along with photos and measurements and visiting an engineer to get an opinion B4 committing any $$ to the project.
While the triangulation design looks OK at first glance there might be a serious week link at some specific critical location.
That was not abandoned for no simple reason.
OK, might set U back couple $$ but it could save you tons $$ in the long run.

 

[Kernopelli]

We used to own a portable building business and moved 12" wide loads regularly and the permits were negligible...want to say it was $80/week about 20 years ago. However in good 'ol Illinois, they have made licenses and permits a gold mine for state coffers. Right now a permit for a load that is over 8'6" wide but under 12'W X 115'L is $500/ week according to the IDOT permit site. I would say that locally here, a flat bed transport should be able to be negotiated for considerably less than the permit on a 30 mile move. I too think a decent size wrecker or even an excavator could get it loaded/ unloaded w/o much problem. Maybe the bridge owner has some equipment that he would be willing to use to assist in loading. Heck, you may be able to jack it up and back under it to load....we have done this with some big, heavy structures. I would definitely have it checked out by an engineer to make certain it will be suitable for any/all conceivable loads you will subject it to in future years.....a concrete truck was an excellent example. The engineer can also tell you the best way to set it's support, piers etc. Yes decking will cost you some money and need future upkeep but around here there are enough saw mills that will custom cut your logs or sell rough sawn oak for far less than dimensional lumber prices that I wouldn't automatically rule that out either. You'll have some money wrapped up in the end but you are going to no matter what way you go. I think you can potentially come out way ahead on this one, just have to get your ducks in a row and do some research on everything involved and try to get a good estimate on final costs..

 

[BrentD]

Ok, I'm having another thought here. Everything on this bridge is bolted together. Granted it is fairly rusty, but most of the bolts are strait rather than bent. I wonder it it might be better to do at least a partial or maybe even complete disassembly and move it a few pieces at a time over the course of a few weekends.

I'm thinking a few cans of liquid wrench a generator and a heavy duty impact wrench should make fairly short work of it.

 

[MarkV]

Personally I'll be very surprised if Liquid Wrench and an impact wrench will take that bridge apart. I would be more incline to torch the old bolts off and reassemble. That said, I think that once you break that structure apart putting it back together will be a real task. The thing is already "tweaked" enough that lining things up once in pieces will be a nightmare.

MarkV

 

[beeforty]

I agree with Mark V about the engineer surveying the bridge. I put a bridge on my property and they have to be rated for 25 tons or so mainly for FIRE TRUCK response in case of emergency. I had a neighbor whose old wood log bridge was marked as "DO NOT CROSS" at the FD. House caught fire, they pulled up to bridge and started dragging hose out. Result, they just kept it from burning up the neighborhood, house totaled. You also don't want your delivery people having to worry about falling through, nothing like haveing someone refuse to drive your bridge and unload on the other side and leave And as he also said about tweaked pieces if unbolting them, I pryed alot of stuff apart with a little work, but have had a **** of a time trying to pry it back together:laughing::laughing:

 

[MarkV]

Hey, I don't want to say this is a bad idea, I don't know. I do like the look of the old steel bridge structure. There have been people on the forum though that have related stories where insurance companies dropped homeowners insurance because entries would not meet the needs of local emergency services. Sure worth looking into, in my opinion, before committing to the bridge.

MarkV

 

[KWentling]

I would guess that the bridge was too narrow and that was the reason it was removed. I agree, an engineer would be the first step. If it won't support a fire truck, and I doubt that it would, don't even consider it. Even though the bridge is pretty cool, I think a culvert set up of some kind would be more practical, and maybe even cheaper.

Kim

 

[HarryVanderpool]

I would not waste one penny on that "bridge" until you run the engineering on the spans for load and deflection.
From the pictures you posted, I would not trust it to hold a horse and buggy.
The truss design is faulty, as is the compromised bottom cord.
You need the down and dirty facts before wasting an incredible amount of time and money on a piece of junk. :thumbdown:
Call a local enginnerring firm, e-mail them the photos and ask them for a price to calculate load.
I'll bet that they send you looking somewhere else.