The Bridge To The Land That Will Be The Homestead Someday

These are the pictures of the the bridge leading up to my land. It is an repurposed railroad car. There are other school buses and RVs there and cabins of course. No contractors or county electric service are willing to drive their vehicles over it, I'm thinking it's more of a liability thing. I would like to get some outside thoughts from you folks on here about it. There are a few campgrounds with similar bridges where people have driven school buses. I would like to be able to drive in and out of the area every few weeks until I get a permanent water solution other than filling my freshwater tank.

Hi Gail;
I'm thinking the footings look kinda shaky on that bridge.  I can't blame professionals for not wanting to trust it.
It's probably been there for years.
The rail cars look / should be sound.
I would be cautious the first time you bring the bus over.  Have a friend walking / watching .
After a trial run. I think you will be fine to use it as much as you need .


Question)  Is it allowed for equipment to "ford" the creek ?
If not, then renting a small rubber track hoe, and walking it over the bridge would be easy easy.
They weigh less than a decked out dually 4x4   pickup.
Learning to operate one will not take you long.  They are small enough to not be intimidating.

Hey Gail,

I will second Thomas’s concerns.  On your first picture titled “Bridge”, is the bridge bent near the left side by the footing?  I am just trying to get a frame of reference for what I am seeing.


Eric

Eric Hanson wrote:Hey Gail,

I will second Thomas’s concerns.  On your first picture titled “Bridge”, is the bridge bent near the left side by the footing?  I am just trying to get a frame of reference for what I am seeing.


Eric

I think that is the angle where the concrete meets the bridge and not the bridge bending. I'm wondering if it would be possible to reinforce that corner where the concrete is cracked with re bar and quick crete in a plywood frame of some sorts?

I think you can get across that no problem.  Just do what these guys did:



You will have to paint your bus orange, but it shouldn't be an issue unless you're a cop.



Seriously, though, I agree with Thomas and Eric; the bridge doesn't look great and I think you should see if someone local can take a look at it and give you an opinion.

Is it _one_ rail car or two?  If one it's a _lot_ less problematic.


Rufus

Idea: Be there when something large goes across and watch _very_ closely at the edges of the car to see what moves. You'll need to be close and maybe touching the bridge to literally get a feel for the way it moves.

Rufus

The water really doesn't look that deep... for a machine with tracks, is there another way they could get through in shallow water rather than using the bridge at all?  The bridge itself seems like more of an obstacle for a large machine than the actual water does.  Just a thought.

As a Civil Engineer who has built a few bridges, I would suggest a few improvements to it.
Its my guess everybody wants somebody else to fix it.
First problem is the logs and stones [ snags] in the watercourse. Its my guess they have deflected water flow to the  washed out foundation, causing it to collapse.
They need removing.
Then I would clean around the damaged foundation and see if I could get down to a hard surface.
If you could build a caisonn and keep the water away that would be good.
The deck may need realignment with jacks or a crane.
Then I would pour a new foundation.
Sorry to be the conveyor of the truth, but if nothing is done about the snags more washing out of that bank will occur.

Rufus Laggren, touching the bridge when something large goes across sounds like a dark comedy way to die.

This is going to hurt. Get hold of a contractor and get it done right. You don't want to be in the position of "fixing" it only to have someone dead or crippled for life because of your work or decisions.

John F Dean wrote:This is going to hurt. Get hold of a contractor and get it done right. You don't want to be in the position of "fixing" it only to have someone dead or crippled for life because of your work or decisions.

Hmm, I don't think any folks with that kind of attitude live in this neighborhood. No one here is going to pay a contractor to do this. I can probably talk the neighbors into helping move the debris, making a plywood frame with rebar and pouring some quickcrete near the cracks. None of us out here are rich so pretty much everyone is doing as many hand built projects on their little homesteads themselves.

Timothy Markus wrote:I think you can get across that no problem.  Just do what these guys did:



You will have to paint your bus orange, but it shouldn't be an issue unless you're a cop.



Seriously, though, I agree with Thomas and Eric; the bridge doesn't look great and I think you should see if someone local can take a look at it and give you an opinion.

She's registered as being hunter orange;) thank that'll help?

> touching the bridge... way to die

Well... Worse than saying a prayer and just driving over it each day?   If you're willing to drive it, don't you think the other is pretty much grandfathered in?

What observing close and personal _may_ do is clarify your thinking by scaring the living beJesus out of you. Made _that_ decision real easy! <g> Gail didn't go into detail, but she did say that some neighbors park on the civilized side and walk across to their homes. That's kinda a sign, like when the forest goes all silent as a predator approaches. <G>


Rufus

Rufus Laggren wrote:> touching the bridge... way to die

Well... Worse than saying a prayer and just driving over it each day?   If you're willing to drive it, don't you think the other is pretty much grandfathered in?

What observing close and personal _may_ do is clarify your thinking by scaring the living beJesus out of you. Made _that_ decision real easy! <g> Gail didn't go into detail, but she did say that some neighbors park on the civilized side and walk across to their homes. That's kinda a sign, like when the forest goes all silent as a predator approaches. <G>


Rufus

People who only own cars park on the highway side and walk across. By highway I mean two lane paved rural road where I see maybe three cars driving in a half hour. If it came down to it I could have an IBC tote for water and pay someone to fill it every few weeks, that is what most folks do. I'd prefer to be stubborn and independent though and just go out and fill my bus tanks when I can.

Just my thoughts ... Is that bridge on a private road?  Who owns it and do you have easement rights?

Or is it on a county road?

Rufus Laggren 😁😬🤔

Anne Miller wrote:Just my thoughts ... Is that bridge on a private road?  Who owns it and do you have easement rights?

Or is it on a county road?

It is a private road, I think it has easement rights shared by all the owners in the 'subdivision' where my six acres is one of the smallest parcels.

Gail

"...subdivision..."

Seems like there must be some "talk" about this. Sounds like you've checked things out.

Just don't want to be the one that proves to everybody that the bridge really does have to be fixed! <g>


Take care.
Rufus