Bridge for Farm Use

[jagermeister]

Yes that is a good size structure and you will need a pretty good size crane to set it. Plus you have to have a good enough road to get the crane and pieces to it. The other issue if if there is a lot of silt in that stream, you will have to excavate that out and place rock to support the culvert. To do it right, you will probably need to dig some test holes and have a Geotech engineer look at it for foundation recommendations. My guess and this is only a guess as I haven't had any quotes for something that size in that short of distance is that you are probably looking at for 15 LF of culvert 12'x16' size with some sort of wingwalls may be 40-50k. You would also need rip-rap to prevent erosion, and you will have to pump the stream flow around it. Even if you did the work yourself and then rent a crane, I would guess you may end up with 75-100k in it depending on how much additional work is required and how much equipment you own. My price may be a little high as I am used to see culverts with highway load ratings. Although if I was going this route I would something that I could take a loaded dump truck across.

If you want to check into the bridge cost look at ADM Welding. http://admwelding.com/ THey make temporary/ permanent bridges for construction, gas lines, etc. Instead of a crane you may be able to use a large excavator to set it. You would still need abutments which can be an issue with the silt. I know they sometimes have used bridges for sale too.

I think you are looking at a pricey solution here though no matter what way you go. I have to wonder for occasional use if the cost would be worth it. If you can get a concrete truck to both sides, what is the major need to cross the stream? Not being critical just trying to understand why you are wanting a crossing there.

I have an easement to enter an adjacent property to access my east side, for agricultural purposes. It's one of those things that I just don't want to "wear it out." It also involves me driving around the block to get over there. It would just be much simpler to access my piece via a bridge of some sort... Then I'm not relying on someone else to get over there.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[Gern186]

Jim I hate to be a Debbie downer here but for the cost associated with 12x16 precast structures long enough to get the top width needed to get equipment across you will have enough invested to go purchase 40 acres of ground elsewhere. If it were me I would use the other access that you have already available for free. Good luck

 

[jagermeister]

Jim I hate to be a Debbie downer here but for the cost associated with 12x16 precast structures long enough to get the top width needed to get equipment across you will have enough invested to go purchase 40 acres of ground elsewhere. If it were me I would use the other access that you have already available for free. Good luck

I get that, but I'm not ruling it out until I see a cost estimate in black and white from Mack Industries. If the culvert is too expensive, I'll build a bridge. The easement I have is for ag use specifically, and (I should've mentioned that earlier) the far side of the creek will not be farmed after 2020... It's getting enrolled in lake Erie CREP. I don't want to rely on a farm use easement for accessing property to conduct habitat management. At the very least, I want a bridge I can take a UTV across... But if I'm gonna do that, I might as well just do a real bridge.

 

[GoetsTalon]

When we did fallen timbers park in 2015 it involved putting in a bridge to cross a nice ravine and got lucky as hell and found a 80 foot core 10 bridge that was one day away from being cut up and sent to omni-source to get recycled. It was free. So you never know what you could find once you start looking. Good luck!

 

[cspot]

I have an easement to enter an adjacent property to access my east side, for agricultural purposes. It's one of those things that I just don't want to "wear it out." It also involves me driving around the block to get over there. It would just be much simpler to access my piece via a bridge of some sort... Then I'm not relying on someone else to get over there.

Thanks for the insight!

I am interested in knowing how close I was on the culvert estimate when you get it? LOL.

Did some more thinking on this. I think the bridge may be your best option. If this is occasional use you could use a bridge like ADM that I posted. Instead of pouring abutments, you could simply excavate down and place crane mats (typically done for gas line bridge crossings) and then you could set the bridge on that. The worst case is overtime you get some settlement and would have to "reset" an end to level it back up. I would guess a new bridge for that size would run 40-50k. I would search around as I think you could probably get a used one for a lot lower cost. Probably have to come up with a way to anchor the bridge so that it wouldn't get washed away. Maybe some type of anchor with cable attachment? Not sure where the flood plane would be in relation to the bridge.

By doing a bridge you wouldn't have to mess with instream work. I am pretty sure you could use a large excavator to set the bridge. This would avoid having to rent a crane. If you have some access to beams you probably could probably fabricated something on your own and then use some hardwood decking to cover it. If you have an engineer friend I would at least get them to do some calculations as you don't want a failure at midspan. LOL.

If it was me and since I am a cheapskate, I would probably use the crane mats and then repurpose a couple of flatbed trailers to make a deck. I think that would be your cheapest option that would still give you want you want. It isn't like your house is on the other side and it is only for occasional use.

 

[jagermeister]

Got a quote on a 9' x 20' box culvert. Just to purchase it and have it delivered to the site... about 16 grand. So add in a crane rental , excavation, and labor, I'd probably be in the ballpark of 30-40,000 when it's all said and done. On to the next idea. Lol

I do have some other leads. A friend of mine located two 53' semi trailers that are no longer road-worthy, and I could basically have them for free, assuming I find a way to move them to where I need them. This would also entail dismantling the trailers and scrapping everything except the decks. I also found a supplier that will sell me some 4' x 4' x 4' concrete blocks that could be used as abutments/foundations for a bridge. This same supplier also suggested one of their "scrap" remnant sections of hollow-core concrete panels, which are normally used for building wall construction but could also support a fair amount of weight for spanning a creek. I think the concrete blocks sound like a good start... Now I just have to decide between hollow-core panel(s), semi trailers, or I-beams for building a bridge deck. Soon as I get a quote on the hollow-core panel I can decide on that option.

 

[xbowguy]

Many times, trailers which can be gotten for free have major rust issues on the cross members. Not sure how safe an abandoned trailer would be.
Let me do some checking before you buy a piece of hollow-core. I probably have an Avenue to get rejects which are usually chipped on a corner or cosmetically deficient.

 

[giles]

I know you said truck, but could you swing something like this for quad use?

 

[Gern186]

Jim I have a 48 foot semi trailer that I'm using for temporary storage but will be done with it by springtime. This could possibly work for you and the price is right. It has solid stringers throughout the entire deck.

 

[jagermeister]

Jim I have a 48 foot semi trailer that I'm using for temporary storage but will be done with it by springtime. This could possibly work for you and the price is right. It has solid stringers throughout the entire deck.

Thanks, buddy. I'll certainly keep that in mind. I think 48' would definitely be long enough.

For the time being, the bridge project has been put on the back burner. Since I will likely to do some CREP enrollment and habitat improvements that may involve earth moving and heavy equipment, and since I can choose my contractor to do the work, I may just try to add a bridge into the mix when that time comes. In the meantime, I may just lay a couple telephone poles down with some decking and use it for a footbridge/ATV bridge. We'll see. Right now I have so much going on that this project has been moved to low-priority status. Unfortunately. Lol.