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Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 6:44 pm
by MSDuckmen
On my land the Little Noxubee River goes right through the middle of my property making it really hard to get to some of the best woods. Any medium to hard rain and there is no crossing the river. So what does a person do? He builds a bridge.

Here is a look at the river crossing before I started. It is a push out that the loggers made when the timber was cut years ago. The span is 45 feet.



First thing to do was drill and set poles for cable. Poles were 20 feet long and buried 6 feet in the ground and concreted.



Then you set the dead falls. Bottom cable dead falls are 5 feet long and buried with 200lbs of concrete each. The Top cable dead falls are 5ft screw in anchors.




Then you lock the poles together with 8 inch lag bolts, Drill through all for cable and level the ground to bridge level.





Then you pull the cables dead fall to one end and attaché the other to turn buckles for easy adjustment.
Bottom cable is ¾ in cable top cable is ½ guide wire terminating to a center support in the middle of the bridge.


Attach 4 by 4’s to cable with U bolts spaced at 20 inches apart. Notice that since I had ¾ cable left I put a cross cable in the middle of the bridge for added support to the lumber.



Then you mount your runners on and level the bridge.


Only thing left to do is test it out…
Tested it with almost 2000 pounds of weight and would only rock a bit.
Sweet victory…

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:03 pm
by Wildfowler
Wait a minute, have you got all that lumber stretched out and installed on nothing but cable? I'm only on my phone right now and can't tell exactly what I'm looking at from the pics.

That sounds like some serious feats of engineering!!

Wow!!

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:09 pm
by Anatidae
I like it. Pretty simple concept. But still a lotta work.

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:20 pm
by MSDuckmen

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:27 pm
by Anatidae
Most things you work hard for usually are, eh?

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:33 pm
by CW
I like that a lot. Very well done.

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:34 pm
by Dux Be Us
Dan THA MAN...get after em boys 8) 8) 8)

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:32 am
by novacaine
That is impressive. :D

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:45 am
by Blackduck
Best post on here for a while. Looks like an answer to a lot of people's problems.

How did you sink the 20ft poles?

The center metal plate that the upper wire attaches too- was that welded before time or once the wires were in place. 1/2 thick steel for that plate?

What is the hollow round thing in the pic that shows the turn buckles where they attach to the deadfalls?

How deep were the dead falls?

What was the hardest part?

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:26 am
by jdbuckshot
That's a great build Dan!

Thanks for Sharing.

We have built a few on our land, but nothing a few light poles wouldn't span.

That will make your property so much more enjoyable.

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:29 am
by MSDuckmen

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:32 am
by mfalkner
As an engineer, I have to say well done, very nice job.

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:33 am
by davidees
That's crazy. Well done!

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:45 am
by RedEyed Duck

Re: Built a bridge on my place

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:21 am
by chopper30
That's impressive Dan, thanks for sharing.

I can't tell from the small pictures, but how did you armour your back fill at the bridge ends to ensure the river want erode it away next flood?