Bridges??

[Tuffbroadhead]

Has anyone constructed their own bridges on their prospective properties?

We have done the math on a proposed issue and its not cheap any way we go.

Option 1: Bring in a excavator , break old cracked concrete and move what is left of the 4 24 inch culverts and rebuild it with old culverts it they can be saved. (pretty rusty). $2200.00 ish (might not fix the erosion issue)

Option 2: Bring in excavator, and demo all of the old workings and bring in two new 42inch x 20ft culverts and rebuild all of it. 4800.00 ish (might not fix the erosion issue)

Option 3: Bring in excavator and demo all of the old workings, dig and pour 6 footings, bring in two 48ft x 102 inch salvage trailers and position them onto the footings and anchorbolt into place, 2 loads of rip rap and rebuild the road on each side of the new 16ft by 48 ft bridge. 6000.ish (If built up high enough would negate the erosion issue , and well you would have a cool bridge.)

We have even priced old "Pony bridges" at 6000.00 plus shipping.

This area is a major drainage and at times can be over 10ft deep and 35 ft wide

[Antlers86]

I have put in 4 on a ranch I manage. They ranged from $6k-$9k. Drill piers 8’-10’ into the ground and then took old army trailers and positioned them on top. Welded and good to go. Pricey but work great and will last a lifetime. If you go this route I suggest welding a shield on each end 3’-4’ deep. This will keep any dirt or rock eroding.

We have also had culverts out in just to see them wash away with a solid rain.

I’ll see if I can find pics.

[Antlers86]

Pics

[dclifton]

Old trailers are are really the only way to go. Take some 2-3/8 pipe and weld a short tire side rail down each side. IF I was going to pour piers and a footing i would cement me some weld plates in to weld the trailers to. The only trailers ive set for people we just cement posts in the ground down several feet. And welded onto those. And you could buy some plate steel and drive pipe in under it before you set the bridge to make a retainer wall to hold the dirt up underneath.

[Antlers86]

Old trailers are are really the only way to go. Take some 2-3/8 pipe and weld a short tire side rail down each side. IF I was going to pour piers and a footing i would cement me some weld plates in to weld the trailers to. The only trailers ive set for people we just cement posts in the ground down several feet. And welded onto those. And you could buy some plate steel and drive pipe in under it before you set the bridge to make a retainer wall to hold the dirt up underneath.

This suggestion is pretty much what we did.

Short rail is nice as well! We originally had 10” and took it down to 6”. Plenty tall for extra safety. I can drive any piece of equipment over these bridges. Welded piers are a huge plus. Drove them into the ground and cemented.

[dclifton]

I didnt see your picture when i originally commented. In all honesty you may be better off just making a low water crossing and not fight it. Unless you just have to have passage every day regardless of the rain.

We fought culverts on a place of ours for years. We ended up pulling it all out and i built short 2-3ft plate walls the whole way across and just started back filling it with any kind of junk rock and concrete i could find. It finally silted all in and havent had much trouble since. Our creek drops pretty rapid so the only times i cant cross it i really dont need to be over there anyways. I plan to put in 1 trailer crossing in a narrow spot one day just so we can cross with the ranger to check cows in the back if the weather is bad. Just incase..

The amount of dirt work etc i think it would take to get you built up enough to be where it needs to be would be costly.

[Tuffbroadhead]

Unfortunate, but that is about 1/4 mile from the entrance to the ranch and the proposed build sites are on top of the next mountain over.

We have a section to pull dirt from to build it up about 8th and enough rock to armor all the surfaces.

[toledo]

People don't like telephone pole bridges because a round pole isn't the best when side loaded. But, I've seen some over engineered that worked great. And you can get them cheap or free.

[Tuffbroadhead]

People don't like telephone pole bridges because a round pole isn't the best when side loaded. But, I've seen some over engineered that worked great. And you can get them cheap or free.

Growing up in Oklahoma I have driven over plenty of trestle style telephone style builds that are everywhere on the dirt roads up there, the price of wood and telephone poles in todays market and the needed piers to be drilled to set the pole in would cost the same a a metal trailer build.