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I need help. We need to span a 15′-20′ wide creek with a bridge.
Does anyone know where to find designs for foot-bridges.
Need it big enough for a baby-stroller and/or bicycles.
Have checks several magazines to now avail.
Suggestions?
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..There are so many ways you could span twenty feet....two steel I-beams...a timber frame with diagonal bracing/supports...have a couple floor trusses built from pressure treated materials...Keep your eyes open as you drive for bridges now that you know you want one....Seems you should be able to find one you like to copy....
Option two...send a deposit for two thousand dollars and I'll be right there...
near the steel eye-beam/wood plank bridged stream,
aj
*Paul,I have a lot of information if you want to email me, I'll dig it out.MD
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try US Forest Service and other gov't publications
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Paul,
There is an interesting article about building a small bridge in the April/May 1995 FHB. Page 64. Actually, two bridges, different people.
Hope this helps. Ralph
*Jack - I wouldn't suggest floor truses, even if they're made from treated lumber. Exposed trusses will absorb and release moisture with the changes in humidity and/or weather. As the lumber swells and shrinks, it can actually push the plates back out of the wood.
*Paul,A couple of things to keep in mind for your bridge design.First, does this creek always stay within the 15 - 20 foot flowage you plan to span or does it occasionally flood. Don't want your new bridge becoming a raft now do we?Second, what state/federal regualtory agencies are you going to have to appease to get this approved? (ie. Dept of Conservation, Corps of Engineers, etc)Third, if you design it to only carry pedestrians and bikes make sure it is only wide enough to allow this use. If you make it wide enough for a vehicle, eventually someone will try to drive over it. (You don't live near Gaby Kafka do you?)Fourth, go visit some golf courses. Tell your wife its "research". They usually have a lot of small bridge structures like the one you're interested in. You might find some good ideas on how to construct your bridge. I've had good luck with old telephone poles as long as they're not worn out completely.EB
*Paul,Here are a couple of possibilities, and advice.Call your county/city engineer and ask him/her who makes these in your area and investigate. The golf course is another good source for the same info.By no means try to span a creek that has substantial seasonal variations without bringing in the big guns They are numorous state/federal regualtory agencies ex. Dept of Conservation (Natural Resources, Corps of Engineers, maybe even a impact study and core sampling.) I had a slightly longer distance to span over a small crevice, so I looked up a mechanical/structural engineer and built one based on the design result. I wanted a slight arch. Certification was required, as a result I became a above average welder to accomplish and installation is a story in itself.Permit was a complete hassle, avoid at all costs, if you can. If I had to do it all over again, I would go to a steel truss manufacturer and buy O&E's to fit your span. 30' - 40' feet are not hard to do and very reasonable.One other concern, do you want what is on the other side to be able to get to you (neighbor kids, pedestrians, dogs, etc..) ?
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At a site where I used to work, we had a railcar bridge: the supports were the undercarriage of a rail car. They were very heavy steel and we had 40-ton vehicles and equipment cross the bridge with no trouble. The span was about 40 feet, with concrete abutments on either side and 4 x 12 timbers forming the road surface. Some modification of this might work for you, especially if you can find a railcar for cheap.
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Paul,
First, as far as permits and regulations in your area definitely investigate before you begin.
As far as design and construction I can help you with some ideas. Give me an idea of what you have pictured. Sleek and unobtrusive, traditional, wood, steel, concrete, suspension???? The posibilities are limitless.
Next describe this stream. Deep or shallow banks, flow rate, soil material bed materil in the stream, terain around the proposed site??
You have to start with a design first, then a budjet, then plans and permits, and finally the actual construction. Don't forget the impact of gettting to the site and restoring it upon completion.
If you want I can copy some of my manuals and send them to you. Additionally if ou have some Military surpluss stores around you may be able to find them there.
Dave
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EB:
There are several companies that specialize in prefab bridges for recreational and golf course use. You raise some interesting points however. I once designed a bridge for a golf course, 10' wide, which of course did not preclude vehicular traffic....we managed to get the regulatory authorities down to H10 loading...but after designing for the 500 year flood and appeasing COE, it was a substantial (and expensive) structure indeed. I believe it was around a 55' clear span and ran just over $2 million.
*I've built several bridges and yes it's a good idea to check with all the regulatory authorities(always a good idea to know what laws you are breaking if you so decide). Two of my bridges were suspension type, and several more were just steel frames (big truck frames work great, and are cheap at the junk yard if slightly bent). What ever you do be sure that your foundations on either side are suitable for your load predictions and well out of the flow zone if possible. Have fun.
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Paul,
When I was about 12 the bridge over our creek finally collapsed. So my best friend and I felled a big fir tree over the creek, with hand hatchets! Took us a whole day. It was a great bridge, might be kind of freaky with a stroller though ;-)
God my Dad was pissed.
jim
*"God my Dad was pissed."LOLWhat a great story! How long did your "bridge" last? Did you use it a lot?Rich Beckman
*"God my dad was pissed"How long did he stay pissed?I remember taking the new wheels for the riding mowers trailer and the old mowers motor and making a go cart. Also had to take apart two bikes. What pissed Dad off was I got busted by the police for riding on he street.Dave, That kind of makes me think I was encouraged now that I look back. Look at "I left my brains at home...."
*Rich/DaveMy best friend ended up buying our back 5 acres (with the creek and pond) from my dad before my parents moved about 8 years ago. The tree is still over the creek and is used by him and his kids. We must have felled it in 1966/7. We get a giggle every time we look at it. My Dad probably didn't stay mad about it long, the memory was soon replaced by some other new and wonderful exploit of mine ;-)Once I built this (supposedly) wind-powered car. It had a steering wheel and column with rope winded around it to turn the front wheels. I took old gauges and switches from dads workshop and really fixed it up cool. I attached a 2x4 mast and used a tarp for the sail. Finally there was a windy day.My little brother and I pushed it on the road. He hung from the back and I drove as we sailed along at a blistering 2-3 mph down the road. As we neared "Mean Mrs. Galen's" house a big gust tore off my mast and the sail and wrapped it around her mailbox. My brother and I were assessing the damages when my Dad peeled up in his truck, the neighbor had called him. I remember him looking at the mast (with about 100 nails sticking out) and said, "is that the new tarp I just bought?". I said I didnt know. He just put the mast and tarp in his truck and drove home without a word.
*Back to bridges....Enwood Structures 800-777-8648...they prefab just what you are looking for...Steadfast Bridges 800-749-7515enwood.comwheeler-con.comAll info from Landscape architecture Magazinefrom near the stream,aj
*When I was in 7th or 8th grade, I decided to build one of those reclining bicycles I had seen on TV. I cut my 10 speed bike in half, flipped the back half of the bike upside down, welded up a few pieces of junk pipe to make a rear axle, "built" a seat out of some scrap plywood and could lay down and peddle with my feet up in the air. The back wheels were attached to a long handle that came up alongside my head where I had bent it to make a handle. Swing the handle to the right, the back wheels turned left. I was so proud of this thing.Well, I learned why the don't build cars that steer from the back wheels. I was crusing down my road (long, strait, no traffic ever) in as straight a line as I could go, working my way up to 10th gear on it's maden voyage.I must have turned too sharp (which with a rear-wheel-steering bike doesn't take much), one rear wheel sheared off, I went spinning like a top into the grass along side the road, I was thrown what felt like several hundred feet (was probably five) and ended my voyage getting X-rays.
*My advice would be a couple of 20' steel I-beams and a standard wood deck. Make sure you allow room for the beams to expand and contract at the foundation/piers. Keep it maintained and your kids will be pushing their kids across it with strollers.
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I would not worry too much about expansion, wood moves much more than steel. Steel expands about 3/4" per 100' per 100degrees F. If you do not have access to rigging equipment then the iron will have to be manhandleable. Some wire rope and turnbuckles tightened against a standoff on the bottom forming a shallow inverted triangle will do nicely to stiffen some relatively light iron.
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Hello Paul,
It's been five days now since your post. What have you learned from all the replies and what would you like to share with us regarding your search for information on building that bridge over Troubled Waters?
Curiously, Ralph
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Eric...et al,
Why are those upright posts with all the wires and thangs referred to as "telephone poles"? Tho they are often set by, and the responsibility of the telephone utility, are not they, indeed, more accurately described as "utility poles"? Okay, I'm. a pisser when it comes to the language.
Brian
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I need help. We need to span a 15'-20' wide creek with a bridge.
Does anyone know where to find designs for foot-bridges.
Need it big enough for a baby-stroller and/or bicycles.
Have checks several magazines to now avail.
Suggestions?
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Paul, Built one last fall, used pressure treated microlams. The customer drives his golf cart across on a regular basis. Let me know if you want more detailed info. Steve