Building a bridge

[Jerry-B-WI]

Thought some of you might find this project interesting. Built a bridge through a swamp on my property. First two pictures are the old bridge that was made from cedars with treated 2x6's nailed across for a deck.

Looking North

Looking South
First step was making a layout line to make everything straight.


Next step was pounding in 2 1/2 pipe to support the channel iron cross members.
Then we mounted the channel iron to the pipes. details in the next picture.


Then we had to make the stringers. They're treated 16 foot treated 2x8's.

Stringers are mounted and braced.

Deck's going on. 6 foot treated 2x6's spaced 3 inches apart.

Bridge is completed. 122 feet long and 1375 screws to mount the deck.

Started the project on Sept. 6, took a short break to build a blind platform for my friend, then hit the bridge again on Sept. 30. Did some work on it almost everyday for about 5 hours and finished it up on Oct. 24. I'm glad it's done and smile every time I walk across a nice flat level bridge.

 

[Bill]

That took some work. Looks great.

 

[Jerry-B-WI]

That took some work. Looks great.

Yeah, lots of work. There's 14 pipes that were driven by hand with a 45# driver. That alone took two days.

 

[Cool Hand Luke]

That’s very creative and well done! I know those posts took time but they will last a long while!

 

[KY wild]

It looks great and to keep it looking great I would make one suggestion which I think would be well worth the effort. Those 16 feet 2 by 8's will sag over time under their own weight, if you could push cinder blocks or bricks or even a rock in between the span then the bridge would stay flat indefinitely.

 

[Jerry-B-WI]

It looks great and to keep it looking great I would make one suggestion which I think would be well worth the effort. Those 16 feet 2 by 8's will sag over time under their own weight, if you could push cinder blocks or bricks or even a rock in between the span then the bridge would stay flat indefinitely.

The pipe supports with channel cross members are 14 feet apart. Hopefully they don't sag much.

 

[Brian662]

Looks great Jerry, nice and clean. Is it just for foot traffic or ATV?

 

[Jerry-B-WI]

Looks great Jerry, nice and clean. Is it just for foot traffic or ATV?

Both

 

[TonySoprano]

Thought some of you might find this project interesting. Built a bridge through a swamp on my property. First two pictures are the old bridge that was made from cedars with treated 2x6's nailed across for a deck.
View attachment 85109
Looking North
View attachment 85110
Looking South
First step was making a layout line to make everything straight.
View attachment 85111
View attachment 85112
Next step was pounding in 2 1/2 pipe to support the channel iron cross members.
Then we mounted the channel iron to the pipes. details in the next picture.
View attachment 85114
View attachment 85115
Then we had to make the stringers. They're treated 16 foot treated 2x8's.
View attachment 85116
Stringers are mounted and braced.
View attachment 85117
Deck's going on. 6 foot treated 2x6's spaced 3 inches apart.
View attachment 85118
Bridge is completed. 122 feet long and 1375 screws to mount the deck.
View attachment 85119
Started the project on Sept. 6, took a short break to build a blind platform for my friend, then hit the bridge again on Sept. 30. Did some work on it almost everyday for about 5 hours and finished it up on Oct. 24. I'm glad it's done and smile every time I walk across a nice flat level bridge.

Fantastic Job

 

[Ohio Darin]

The pipe supports with channel cross members are 14 feet apart. Hopefully they don't sag much.

You'll most likely get some sag. The 2x8's spaced at 24" are good for spans a touch over 10 feet depending on the wood grade.