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Bridge
The Sad History
This little task in August 2002 was unplanned and unexpected until Mother
Nature displayed her prowess in May. Our original bridge was built in 1973
after buying an acre and a half across the creek from Pat Bulman. The main
supports were four 20 foot long 6x7 rough cut spruce beams, purchased
from Joe Bayan(Sp?) who had a small saw mill just over the state line on
rte 267. The decking was rough sawn 2x8, also from Joe. I think the total
cost was about $300 - delivered to the back yard! Before putting it in place,
all the lumber received a coat of some hazardous as all get out wood treatment
applied with a brush. It killed all the grass where the stuff was being applied.
At that time the creek was about 14-16 feet wide, bank top to bank top but
on the far side the bank sloped at about a 60 degree angle. To reduce the
effective width a three sided box, 12 foot along the bank and out about 8 foot,
was constructed on the far side of logs (cut from Schoonover's land on top of Echo).
This was then filled with rocks - taken from our garden, that's some kind of
a commentary in itself!
The ends of the main beams then reached from about a foot onto the bank past
the end of the box on the far side and about 4 feet onto the bank on the house side.
In the early years of the bridge it seemed I spent half my time trying to keep
it from being washed away. The log box held well but the house side kept getting
eroded, partially because I found out where the previous residents had dumped the
ashes from their coal furnace. Ashes wash away real easily once exposed.
Although the log box held up very well, it was subject to being under cut. This
was corrected with more
rocks and many bags of Sakrete. One year in the early '80s the creek nearly
made it over the bank and the bridge was hanging by two of the four mains. The
other two ended in space. To repair that, jack posts were concreted in the creek
bed under the danglers. Those were then used as a start to effectively build
another box on the house side. Double 2x12s (treated) were placed perpendicular
to the mains and an addition was made to the bridge on the house side making the
overall bridge now 26 feet long. This extension seemed to do the trick. In the
90s the condition of the original lumber was deteriorated so the original
decking was removed, doubled 2x12s were added from the jack post location to
the far side and new pressure treated decking was put down. Now it even looked like
a bridge.
On May 28th, 2002 we got 3 1/2 inches of rain in about 20 minutes. Say Goodbye!
Standing in the kitchen looking out at the rain and watching one's bridge become
a boat is a very memorable experience. I'd have to say I knew there was going
to be a problem when Jennings' bridge floated by. All told, that storm took out
four bridges, Demske, Jennings, Howey and Bulman. The Lauffer/Crittenden bridge
was the only one to survive and that got moved and nearly cut out on the road
side.
This picture was taken near the end of the storm just after the worst was over.
The small tree at the left was about 3 feet from the bridge - 10 minutes earlier.
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A few hours earlier this photo would have looked right across the bridge. Now it
looks right across where the bridge used to rest on the log box.
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The Replacement
Preparation for this job involved putting the creek back and removing the remains
of the old bridge and its supports. I say "putting the creek back" because
it had cut new channels and partially or completely filled in the old channel.
This was accomplished by Daniels Back hoe Service of Vestal (785-5009) using
an excavator and a back hoe. They did a great job at a very reasonable price - highly
recommended. They also lifted one end of the two large truss joists across the
creek saving me a lot of heavy labor.
The underpinnings are 3 steel trusses, two of which are 32 foot long and 18 inches
high. The third truss is actually a pair of 20 footers, 14 inches high, welded into one
by Ed Meyers (thanks, Ed). They were dug in to leave the tops about 4
inches above ground on the house side and 8 inches on the other side. These trusses
held the water walls of our above ground pool together at the top and were saved
when the pool was removed several years ago. Good thing! Even at 32 feet long they
only go about 5' back from the bank on each side. Before the back hoe work, they wouldn't
really have reached.
On August 8th, the floor is partly down. This shows the steel beams and the 2x4 bolted
to them to fasten the flooring. The outer two beams each have one more section of 2x4
to be bolted on.
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Taken at the same time, this is a side view of the trusses
and shows how the creek was
dug back out. It's much the same as it was before except for the missing vegetation
on the banks...and a few bridges. Notice the darn thing is dry except
for a one gallon size pool under the bridge.
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Pressure treated 2x4s were drilled and bolted to the top of the trusses (3/8x4 bolts)
which conveniently have 2 L-shaped steel members with about 1/2 inch between them on
both top and bottom. The flooring - PT 2x8x8', 50 of them plus 5 2x8x10' - is
then fastened to the 2x4s with deck screws. A short ramp was made on each end
to allow the tractors to be driven across.
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Here we have the painter-in-chief, with one of her
supervisors, applying stain. The flooring is down and the railing
largely finished.
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A railing was made that is supported by a 3 sided box of vertical 2x6s fastened
to the sides of the 2x8x10 floor boards. Additional 2x8x10s were bolted to the
bottom of the two outer trusses and the vertical 2x6s are also fastened there to
provide stiffness. This is finished by a pair of 2x6s at right angles fastened
one on top and one to the inside surface of the verticals. Nancy stained the entire
bridge to match the barn and shed. A lot of work but it really gives a great appearance.
The electrical supply to the shed and barn, which runs along under the bridge,
was replaced, but this time from the
sub panel in the shop rather than from the house. Breakaway connections were made
at each end of the bridge again, but let's hope they're never needed.
Trivia
The bridge has supported a 3000 pound load of gravel being pulled by the garden
tractor with no visible flinching. It was started on August 6 and was walkable
on August 9. It was completely finished on August 16. The day time temps during
this period were in the upper 80s and low 90s. At the time of completion it was
86" from the bottom of the steel to the creek bed in the middle of the bridge.
In August 2003 that dimension had decreased to 80" due to silting in the creek bed.
The total cost was
about $1200. This does not include the trusses which we had, the back hoe service
which needed doing anyway, nor my labor... but I work cheap.
The Finished Product
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