I need a new BRIDGE!!!

jjinks · Feb 10, 2012

Look in to a swinging type bridge Joseph Dice built many in Mo. They are around a hundred years old I have seen a dump truck towing a backhoe cross one no problem. They consist of concrete footings up to road grade,post on top of footings then strands of #9 Bridge wire laid side by side to form a cable around 40 -60 Strands usually. The strands are woven around a series of steel pins then encased in a concrete footing laid about 20' back from the first footings. Then use more wire to suspend the stringers from the main cables lay on those joists running from footing to footing. Then deck with local lumber.

bradm64 · Feb 11, 2012

Rowdy Raven said:
And now the update.....
Today we met at the bridge. Present were the land owner, a friend who runs a commercial bridge building company, a bridge builder who specializes in rr flatcars, and a few other good friends. I really need to post some pix here so that you get a better idea what we're up against. We discussed numerous options, going high, going low, I beams, H beams, locust stringers, and rr flatcars.

The landowner feels strongly about building a low water bridge. This is due in part to the tremendous flooding that we get and that building a high water bridge would be $$$$$ expensive. The existing low water bridge was built in 1946 and the stringers have never washed out.

Thus, at the end we agreed that the best approach was to put a 60' rr flatcar across the stream resting it on H beam pilings encased in concrete on each side. The builder will provide us with a turn key proposal and his initial thought was it would be in the 20k range. I will let you know when I get the actual proposal. All in all a great day.

Sounds like an interesting project - please take photos and post for us to see how your project goes. When I find time, I'll scan some photos of the bridge built to get into my place and post them. We only had to span about 35 feet, so a rr car was overkill for my use.

It was done in 2000, and the photos are not digital......

Mike476 · Feb 11, 2012

$20k turn key as in the flatcar, concrete / backfill and labour. No small chunk of change but sure takes the edge off some of the previous estimates you were working with, a great day indeed.

chrisw212000 · Feb 13, 2012

14' X 70' Truss Bridge

HCJtractor · Feb 13, 2012

I just saw that bridge on Craigslist and thought it would be interesting. Probably not a bad deal if someone had the time, knowledge, and a crane to reassemble it. Wonder how someone came to own this bridge and wonder if it has been disassembled??? One of you guys should buy it and write a very interesting thread about re-building it. (maybe you could sell the right to name it!)

Rowdy Raven · Feb 21, 2012

Site Report
So we went to the rail yard and took a look at the flatcar. It is a 60 foot car that is 9.5' wide and 31" high at the high point which is the middle 30 feet. On one corner there is some damage where the car derailed. We talked with the contractor and devised a plan to install the flatcar using H beams and lots of concrete on the ends. It would be free span across the river. The flatcar weighs in at 44k pounds. The wood decking needs to be replaced. For this I have been looking at using Marston Matting which is military surplus landing matting. We will install this with a slight tilt to the upstream side because while the bridge will not go underwater often it will go under a couple of times a year. The contractor plans to have about 30-36" inches from normal flow to the bottom of the "bridge." Any thoughts?

bcp · Feb 21, 2012

I've seen some Marston Matting that was used like that. It bent down between supports after a while. It was made to lie on the ground with no span strength designed into it. That was so long ago I don't remember what type of loads were using it, just that it sagged between supports.

Bruce

Rowdy Raven · Mar 25, 2012

Update on the bridge project. Below are two shots of the original bridge built in 1946. These pictures were made just before we actually removed the bridge, now we just have a big hole in the river. In a couple of weeks the flatcar will be brought in to span the river. I will post pix as we move through the installation process.