Has anyone dealt with installing a temp bridge for loader traffic to shuffle equipment and materials across a creek that is not able to be piped temporarily? If you have what beam section did you recall using? I am looking at finding an old equipment trailer and pulling the axels out from underneath it, but thought that possibly buying the steel and decking with some crane mats might get the job done cheaper and faster.
An old RR flatcar works great, if you can find one to buy. You only need the deck and frame, not the wheelsets or couplers. They can be found in various lengths. Check some of the larger scrapyards. Jeff
Trailers are only 8' wide, and if you're using a flatbed, the beams are in a ways, and the outer portion isn't very strong. I'd prefer two trailers side by side, so the loader tires ran down between the main beams. The rail cars are great because they are wider and much stouter, but they are a lot heavier so it takes a lot bigger equipment to set them. I suppose you need to start with how long you need the "bridge" to be, and what the width/ weight is of the equipment is that you need to cross it with. I've installed a old semi trailer and the railroad cars for customers. Neither were temporary. Trailer was for a pasture access across a creek that kept washing out the culvert. Railroad bridge for a similar situation, they just wanted a lot more substantial bridge. Both set on poured abutments.
are you allowed to use cribbing to support the span? Wood cribbing to support wood beams and crane mats would be a halfway step between a tube and a bridge that spans the whole creek.
Thats a very vague question. You need to find a prefab bridge that is designed or roll the dice and take advice on the internet. Don't forget about the abutments, setting a bridge on bare ground isn't going to hold up very long unless you have an exceptionally large contact area.
What kind of weight and span?
I'll echo what redneck and CM said. Get the numbers for span, and the size of machine you want to run over it. I've been involved with temporary spans up to 88' long supporting a Manitowoc 3900 kitted out to 300,000 pounds. That required serious engineering
https://admwelding.com/
I saw on Craig’s list, the folding end containers ( used to ship odd and oversized loads) advertised for temp bridges in 20 and 40 foot lengths. Cam
My thought was to use an old low boy trailer but those have been hard to find locally. The RR car is a great idea but we’ve only got a Komatsu PC210 and a 135 to move things around with. I don’t think we’d have the needed muscle to do it with those machines. Not to mention I doubt my local scrap yard has a rail car. We may try landing a flat bed trailer with crane mats underneath to act as abutments.
Deere 624K wheel loader with a bucket of rock. Span is about 25ft.
This is a great option because there aren’t any axles to remove and it’s already flat on the bottom.
that's about 45,000 with a heaped bucket. 10' wheelbase.
Rig mats, exactly what they are made for. 8’-9’ wide 20’ or 40’ long.
Will they clear span 25' and support a 45K lb rolling load?
Not even close. They are for setting a drill rig on top of soft ground and working on, when you have a nice bog under you. But definitely not for a clear span crossing.
Depends on which ones there are different specs, but the heavier one's 2 would support that no problem. Looked into it a few years ago at my property to span a ditch, IIRC if you tied 3 of the heavy one's together 20' span was good for around 80,000lbs.
I think you're confusing them with swamp mats. While rig mats are used for that purpose they are also used for spanning, hence why they are so heavy compared to swamp mats.
Never seen nor would I recommend using a rig mat as a bridge. Rig mats are heavier than swap mats since a several million pound drilling rig can be set upon them not just a tracked piece of equipment. We used them while drilling gas wells to give the triples something to walk around on while they punched holes a couple thousand feet deep and for protecting the secondary containment. Even the name implies they are to be set upon. Use a prefab bridge for the weights and more importantly, the spans we are talking about.
Wanted to follow up with the forum on what we wound up installing for this work. We used 4EA W12x26 beams placed in pairs to span the creek and then decked it with steel road plates. We set the beams down on crane mats either side of the creek to create what I am going to call the beam seats so they wouldn't sink down under pressure. The road plates were welded to the beams and the plates also welded to one another to keep them together to prevent sliding. The plates being welded to the beams kept them from rotating side to side. This ended up working out very well. The bridge was very stable and let us get the pumps, materials and equipment across the creek. We finished the cased pipe crossing Saturday and will be taking everything down this week once we test out the line with the inspectors.
Good deal. Glad it worked out, a 12x26 is a nice sized beam. Any pics?
pics would be nice. That big span I talked about earlier, we had crane mats first, then a couple of 18x48 beam crossways, then the big doubled up beams. It made a 9' stack and drop off on the island in the river. I fished a bunch of big riprap that was on the downstream side of the RR abutment and put them in the 966 bucket for my apprentice to drop off the end, as I built it up with the river rock I stripped off the island with the 550 dozer. Lots of running between iron. Then I took the island right down to river level to get enough ramp for the drillers to get down and drill the 6' diameter by 90' holes. Once they got done I re-configured the dirt to make a flat spot for the 3900, and set a 28' crane mat on the end for the toe of his tracks. He sat there and set that end of the 120,000 pound concrete beams. I armored the new piers with the 400 using that rock I had appropriated, then walked up the really steep ramp and started picking the crane mats with the thumb and putting them on the 966 forks as I de-decked the bridge and backed across. We took the big beams off, and threaded a needle with them between the RR bridge, new bridge, and the 3900 boom. He landed them about on the toe of his tracks and we skidded them under the RR bridge with the 966. After all that stuff was picked up I re-created the island as it was with the river rock ( and quite a bit of drill tailings ), then he picked the 550 off the island, right back where we started.