Streetcar
Veteran Member
The bridge or box culvert are good options but are very expensive.both will require significant fill on the approach. Rscotty shows there is no cheap fix for this problem with his experience in low crossings
The skidder bridges which BCP linked to above are similar to what we use for bridge tops. They cost around $400 for a 4x16 foot panel; so $1200 for a 12 foot wide bridge. The waste blocks are about $50 each; they also would have to be delivered somehow. As I mentioned in his previous thread, we can do a 2 foot high span, 10-12 feet wide for around $3000 including excavator time. The only variable is how much fill he needs. I looked but no longer have any pictures.The bridge or box culvert are good options but are very expensive.both will require significant fill on the approach. Rscotty shows there is no cheap fix for this problem with his experience in low crossings
These aren't cheap. I had one built about 4 years ago with a 10 foot span and it was well over $20K. Like everything else, concrete has gone up since then.If this dry creek that gets pretty wet lies between your house and civilization, I would want to make a sufficient investment to make something rugged. I think you could find a junked out semi trailer from a construction company or heavy towing service.
The Box Culvert(s) idea isn't a bad one. Good for water flow, better for debris to flow through, and a dandy platform for your low water crossing.
Large diameter culverts are expensive. Moving and setting 3ft boulders isn’t cheap either. It seems to me like setting a railroad car bridge would be cheaper.
Are you saying that this one washed? I would have thought it was plenty high enough.I've installed and repaired on many bridges and nearly all washed away in one event. The one seen below, was over 6ft above the creek, the civil and state engineers said it was high enough and good to go. It was anchored to concrete abutments that were pegged into bedrock. The structure weighted about 15,000lbs. We're told that rain and weather fluctuations are now a common event. View attachment 778136View attachment 778137
Yes, I have pics of it 1/4 a mile downstream but can not locate them. All the bridges in this canyon washed away. As you might guess, we are now advocates of higher, longer bridges.Are you saying that this one washed? I would have thought it was plenty high enough.
Are you saying that this one washed? I would have thought it was plenty high enough.
It's above the stream banks, which is what I was looking at. We don't normally get the massive deluges seen in other parts of the country.The "plenty high enough" is a real difficult thing to measure.
A good rule of thumb to start with is that a road should slope up to get to a bridge crossing. When the road slopes down, both the road and the bridge are already within the channel made by a previous flood.
rScotty