Cedar Bridge – Part 3

Complete at last! After three years of planning, designing and building, the cedar bridge now spans the creek at Dogwood and is ready for traffic. Last weekend we inserted the top parts of the trusses. We did this by slipping them into to place. I can’t say it was an easy fit but certainly it was less difficult than expected. We had to drill out a few of the holes for the bolts but other than that, it fit together nicely. After placing each truss, we hammered in the bolts, tightened with washers and nuts and the job was done. We are pleased with the result and particularly with leaving the planks rough by not cutting them to the same width. They were installed with knot holes and all. The result is a nice rustic look perfect for the setting.

Although we initially had some help with cutting down the large trees and planning some of the trunks, for the most part, it was the work of just the two of us. We did the measuring, marking, re-measuring, re-marking, cutting, sawing, clamping, gluing, pushing, slamming, dragging, fitting, lifting, hammering, drilling, cussing, swearing and cursing ourselves.

We hope in the spring when dogwood trees around the bridge are in bloom we will have an official unveiling of the bridge and some nice photo-ops.

I have concluded that every couple should build a bridge together: literally and figuratively. If they are still speaking to each other when the project is done, it’s a good strong relationship. We are still on speaking terms.

That is not just water under the bridge!

Cedar Bridge – Part 2



Board cut from cedar

Cutting cedar and plywood to length and width per the final design was the task for the Fall of 2010. Using a portable generator to provide juice for the power tools, we constructed the trusses in the dogwood area holding the pieces together with “liquid nails” (glue), plywood plates and galvanized bolts, washers and nuts. Finding the necessary quantity of hardware required multiple trips to various hardware stores in Brenham: Home Depot, Lowes and McCoys. Checking out during an emergency run to Brenham’s Home Depot for more 6” long galvanized bolts, the young gal running the register was sure the $3 per bolt price was wrong. After verifying the price was correct she said, “Honey, those are some expensive screws-they better hold your stuff together good!” Of course they were bolts, not screws, but I let her slide on that as I certainly shared her sentiment on the price.  However, I’m not so sure my “stuff” is held together "good" with or without expensive bolts.


Piers and center cross beams



After building both trusses, we partially dismantled them for transport to the bridge location. Before beginning construction, we installed two concrete piers in the creek bed (the creek is seasonal so it only contains water after a heavy rain, which we have not seen much of lately). We dug two holes in the creek bed about two feet deep and parallel to the bank. We then put a 12” diameter cardboard tube in each hole so that about a foot stuck out above the hole. We filled the tubes with cement mix, added water and mixed well to make slurry. Rebar was inserted, metal brackets placed on the top of the wet cement and cement hardened. Using the metal brackets, on each cement pier we installed wooden posts and two large cross beams across the posts. The trusses and the other beams traversing the creek will rest on the cross beams for support in the center of the bridge and on the banks.



Beams and bottom trusses spanning the creek

Next, we constructed center beams to span the creek and set them in place from bank to bank. We also transported the bottom parts of the two trusses, in two parts each, to the bridge location. Each piece of the truss, was transported one at a time with the ATV and a little trailer.  The trusses still dragged on the ground behind the trailer. We then installed the bottom portions of both trusses and attached them together with those expensive bolts, nuts and washers.

The following weekend, braces were placed between the beams at approximate 3 foot intervals. We cut the cedar planks into six foot lengths and carried those six at a time on the Ranger to the site and placed them across the beams and trusses. It was starting to look like a bridge so we were spurred on to finish the planking. When all the planks were placed, we trimmed them to fit and screwed them down. We were Goldilocks on the planks as we had not one too few, not one too many, but just the right number for the job. Was it pure luck or precision planning?  Either way, we have a functional cedar bridge.

Next time we will install the top pieces of the trusses.  Also ramps on the banks are needed so that a vehicle can drive onto the bridge. 



Fully planked,  functional cedar bridge



The Cedar Bridge- Part 1

Enjoying use of the rainbow bridge over the creek in the front of the properly since December 2003 (see Speaking from the Ranch post of October 24, 2010); the cedar bridge will complete the loop over the creek in the back of the property. The genesis of the cedar bridge was twofold: 1) we needed a bridge over the creek in the back of the property to both walk and to drive across on the ATV, the John Deere and, now, the Ranger; and, 2) we needed a use for the large trunks of the huge juniper trees we planned to clear from the land (see Speaking from the Ranch post of September 29, 2010). Putting those two needs together, the cedar bridge plan was born.

In 2006 we cut down four very large cedar trees (with help from son-in-law Michael and his friend Tommy) in the area in front of the dogwood trees along the creek. Very little grass grew in this area due to the dense shade of the cedar trees. Once the trees were down, we chopped off all of the limbs and burned them in the usual brush burning pit. Four large cedar trunks were left. Rather than cutting those trunks into logs by cutting perpendicular through the trunk, using a special attachment on the chainsaw, we cut parallel to the trunk to create lumber. We cut both boards to use as beams to span the creek and thin wide planks for the decking on the bridge. Both Marcus and friend Larry assisted with the planking, but Ronnie and I did most of it.



Marcus and the planking



This was hard, dusty work requiring helmets with face shields and ear muffs. I also wore a face mask over my nose and mouth to reduce allergic reaction to cedar sawdust – that is potent stuff!
The bridge was designed on paper with the help of architect son Marcus. Although not a civil or structural engineer, as an architect he has an understanding of structure, stress, support and design. Over the last three years, the bridge was designed, re-designed, design-enhanced, design-modified, design-improved and ultimately, probably, over-designed. Although we initially wanted to only use cedar from the property, the new and improved design required adding plywood and other boards to ensure proper strength to support the equipment that we plan to drive over the cedar bridge.



Boards cut out of cedar to be used as beams



The span of the bridge is 32’ from bank to bank over a creek bed six feet below. The bridge will be six feet wide with two trusses on each side and two strong center beams all resting on large cedar logs as footers embedded in each bank.  We dug the holes for the footers with my father's old heavy pickaxe that is so heavy after a few "swings" I was out of breath and had to rest.  It's a heavy duty tool and did the trick with Ronnie and me switching-off using the pickaxe. 



One of the cedar trunks to be buried in the creek bank



Christy digging the hole into which the cedar trunk was later rolled-I'm not digging a grave!





Cedar trunk buried in the bank to be used as footer for the bridge. We flattened the
top with the same tool used to cut the beams and planks.



The Rainbow Bridge

Old Dogwood has a seasonal creek that divides the property 1/3 on the “other side” of the creek and 2/3 on the driveway side of the creek. The “other side” is heavily wooded and the wild side. From about May through December, the creek is dry with white sand in the bed which varies from a few feet deep to over 10 feet deep in the area we call the “Grand Canyon of Dogwood.” From January to April it often has a small stream of water trickling down about ankle deep in most places. The creek rises quickly during a heavy rain, up to several feet deep.

Soon after we acquired Old Dogwood, we realized we needed a way to easily cross the creek, dry or wet. We also wanted to take equipment and the mower to other side. To do that, we needed a bridge. We decide to build a rainbow or arch-type bridge to span 25 feet across the creek with a seven foot width. Like with nearly everything these days, bridges are for sell over the internet. A nice fellow, Frank Petersohn, in Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada had a rainbow bridge design for sell via the internet. Browse his website at http://mathemati.ca

We gave Frank the bridge dimensions we wanted and that it should support 1600 pounds. He modified his design accordingly, cut the lumber to size with the correct angles for assembly, provided the hardware to hold it all together and assembly instructions. The only lumber not provided were the planks as those were standard size and easily purchased at any lumber yard or home improvement store.

The bridge pieces were shipped by freight to us and delivered to our gate at Dogwood. On our usual route from Highway 290 to Dogwood, there is a small wooden bridge over a creek. The bridge is not marked with a load capacity. When the freight truck driver got to that bridge on his way to deliver our bridge, he refused to cross the unmarked bridge for fear it would not hold his truck and his load. He called his dispatcher to find him another back road route to Dogwood.  The bridge was transfered from the freight truck to our truck for the 50 foot drive from the gate to the garage.

We decided to build the bridge in the front part of the property and built most of it during December 2003 when there was no water in the creek and the weather was not too hot to work hard. Before the building could begin, concrete footers were constructed on both banks to support the bridge. Frank’s site shows in detail how those were to be constructed.

We did this by digging a hole 2 feet wide, 6 feet long, and 2 feet deep and filling it with cement. Each footer required 12 80-lb bags of cement. Getting 12 8-lb bags of cement across the creek was a challenge. Each bag was wheeled over and pushed up the bank in a wheel barrow one at a time. To wet the cement, we strung three long garden water hoses from the well house, across the property and across the creek to the footer location. Rebar was added to the wet cement slurry for strength.



Form for the footer





Moving one bag of cement across the creek




Mixing cement in the wagon

 

Autographed cement footer





The bridge was then constructed per the designer’s recommendations. By Christmas 2003, we had an attractive bridge and a way to drive across the creek! It has served us well over the last seven years and remains sturdy. It official opening ceremony with family was in February 2004.



Trusses built





Official Openning Ceremony





Just water under the bridge





Go  to Frank’s site, click on photos and the Dogwood bridge is featured in the third column, the fifth picture down. http://mathemati.ca/1_24foot.html

The bridge was a big project, one of the first of many at Old Dogwood needed simply to make the place more habitable and easier to get around. However, today, if we drive the mower or ATV over the bridge, we cannot complete the loop and cross back at the other end of the property because we do not have a bridge in the back of the property. That is about to change and we hope to complete the next bridge project by the end of 2010. It is a different type of bridge and will be built from different material. The Cedar Bridge Project has been underway for two years but the construction phase soon begins.