yesterday we had to put a Truck bridge over a high pressure petroleum pipeline. hauled 5 triaxle loads of hardwood over it and it works well. next there is about 200 acres of planted pine to go over it.
setting the second panel
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10354/bridge_1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10354/bridge_2.jpg)
all 3 panels in place
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10354/bridge_3.jpg)
over the bridge and starting to pull the hardwood
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10354/oak.jpg)
How long are those? The mill has three sets, 20'-40'. Have three 12'' I beams per half, put together there 12' wide. They are a pain in the butt to put in place. Have to be flipped upside down to get them into the woods then flopped over. If not they catch. Theres D rings welded down the sides to hook on to. My C7D has a hard time with the 40's. Those bridges look a lot easier to work with than ours.
If i remember right they are 28 or 30 foot long. We built them out of 8X20 tube we got for about half of what scrap price was. we have another set built out 8x16 tube 3 tubes per panel but they have a piece of 4x18 stood up on edge on the outside of two panels for a bump rail. we mainly use them for skidding bridges the bump rail keeps the logs on the bridges better
the ones in the pic are very easy to set only takes about a half hour once they are unloaded
Ours have a 6" bump rail. I put the 30' on my gooseneck trailer behind my Cummins and I was maxed. They usually haul them in on a log trailer and we slide them off the back. I like how yours are tappered, ours are square on the ends. Put them in place and have to push dirt on the ends to get on them. During the winter they freeze in hard. I've had to start a brush fire on the ends of them to break them loose sometimes.
at first we were going to leave them square on the ends but now i am glad we took the time to taper them. it doesnt matter much with the skidder but it is nice crossing them with the truck
The square ends aren't bad unless there on real soft ground. I tend to have to keep putting wood and stone in to climb up on to them. How much life do you get out of those wooden mat's? The mill was talking about building some for wet landings to back log trucks on. We have rubber tire mats but they tend to spit out from under the tires.
hey have i told everyone how much i like the new motor in our 170?? pulled those 2 nice red oak about a 1/4 mile in high gear
the ones in the pic were used on 3 landings after i got them used. the trick to makeing them last is handle them with care when moving them and set them on flat ground if there is any air gap under them they will brake. it can be mud under them as long as the are in full contact with the ground. oak holds up the best white oak is my choice. bolt them together dont even think about nails!! bolt at every cross 2 bolts on the perimiter
that truck road in front of the bridges will be matted for about 1500 feet. i find in the long run it is cheeper than rock and you can pick them up and take them to the next job. the foresters like them too there is no ruts and no work to do when you leave
How many mats does it take to span 1500 feet?
about 150. i got 200 mats free from a local power line job. all i had to do was go pick them up and i could have them
skidder looks great, that tract looks like its going to keep you busy for a while
Having them mats would probably save alot in the long run. The mill puts our landings and roads in if needed. They hate buying stone and I hate dealing with disgruntle truck drivers :D. We'll have to look into them.
TF 87
I am hopping to have all the pine cleared for next planting season. then he has another 300 acres for us to cut in tobaccoville
That was a super deal getting all those mats for free. :)
Yea but we will pay for them in our electric bill if you have dominion power too a lot of them were never used
Nice bridge rails I have used a number of things over the years and should of taken time and built something like you have. Good job !
Quote from: smwwoody on March 31, 2013, 11:43:52 AM
about 150. i got 200 mats free from a local power line job. all i had to do was go pick them up and i could have them
I had a guy in maine wanted to buy some wood to make mats for the power lines guys, but I could not do it for .50 a BF
ON the Bridge thing In NH a lot of guys will use 8x8x20' hemlock, here some pics making them
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22511/DSCN2645.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22511/DSCN2643.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22511/DSCN2648.JPG)
the last pic there upside down the steel plate has a chain on it to pick it up, the ends are the way there are so not to move, sometimes there chain together, there 4' wide put 3 together for 12' bridge, you can put a 8x8 then 6x8 then a 8x8 so to make grooves a place for the dirt to go . the ones in the pic are 8x10x20.
as long as you keep out of the water, NH des likes that, here it's all about cleen water :D :D :D :D :D
I have nine of the wooden ones. they are 12 inches thick 4 foot wide and 20 foot long. they work well I got them used and they are starting to rot. I use them for the skidder but dont trust them any more for loaded trucks
I have never seen the ones like smwwoody is using. the ones that Peter pictured are all over the place. really see them alot now because of the new electric upgrade.
Those companies are BAD. The guy that did the landscaper for my house,also neighbor beside my parents. His Father rented out the field to the power company and he went to the bathroom behind the truck. Man the higher up had a fit. He laughed at them and said,It's my land,too bad. Than he was moving some stuff with the loader truck and I guess it had a small drip and another fit was had. Shut it down and got out the pig rags.He was some glad to see them gone.
Is it normal to need to bridge over pipelines? When they put a high pressure nat gas pipeline across our farms they ran all kinds of equipment over it as soon as it was buried. Next time I sell timber the line will need crossed.
yea it is normal. the pipeline co runs what ever they want over them but if we get caught crossing them they can make you pay to dig the pipe up and inspect them. when they go through a farm or other potential high traffic areas they go a little deeper than they do out in the woods so it may be a little easier to cross it on the farm
The pipeline people here tried to make a woman pay for digging up and inspecting the pipeline, buried 30' feet deep, because she planted tulips with a trowel over the pipe. ::)
Must have been a big trowel :D
She would have needed a CAT 345 trowel to dig that deep. ;D
When they crossed the farms they crossed 4 fences, I was told I could drive fence posts but not drill with a post hole driller. I pointed out that my posthole drill would not even go quite 4' and the pipe is 3 times that deep but they still say no mechanical drilling. When I sold timber 16 years ago they accessed it across a farmed field and now that would cross the pipeline so we will see one of these days.