[Aaron Berk]

I live in a gated community, we have 2 wooden vehicle bridges. Super Bowl Sunday, someone crashed into the railing on one.

The end post got snapped, and all the consecutive railing posts were canted about 2 inches over. About a 40' bridge, could be shorter?

I was asked to bid on it.
Never done work on a bridge before. This should be interesting.

I've casually crawled all over the bridge out of curiosity and it looks very sound, damage appears to be isolated to the one handrail/rub rail. Tomorrow I'll "officially" look it over.

Praying this goes well, would like to have a bridge in my portfolio.

 

[knucklehead]

Go for it. Good luck.

 

[Chris Johnson]

Hang a broncos flag on the damage

 

[ohiohomedoctor]

I'd sub it to a bridge company. Sounds like a whole lot a liability too me..

 

[Aaron Berk]

Yes, I'm mildly concerned about liability.

If I build back to original specs, and mirror the design of the original. I would still be 100% liable for any issue. I touched it, I own it.

The bridge is over a drainage marsh, and about 3ft off the ground at the highest point.

I think it's as basic as it gets, I need to check and see how far I'm covered with this sort of carpentry.

 

[TNTRenovate]

I'd sub it to a bridge company. Sounds like a whole lot a liability too me..

What are you talking about, you sub everything.

 

[ohiohomedoctor]

What are you talking about, you sub everything.

Not everything. I keep my guys busy all year every year..

 

[ohiohomedoctor]

I'd be afraid of the next time someone hit it. If it didn't budge just right you may have a lawsuit on your hands. I'm sure bridge builders have special licenses and insurance for that sort of thing.

Same reason I don't install mailboxes anymore..

 

[overanalyze]

Talk to your insurance, get an engineers stamp for the repair, and bid it. I get the liability thing, but that is why we have insurance. As long as they approve, go for it.

We built a bridge before for small tractors on a guys property. He had a small creek running through his property and was tired of going to the road to get to the other side.(typically why you build a bridge...lol) Was a fun project and is still there! We even drove our bobcat s175 over it. That was well over 15 years ago.

 

[Aaron Berk]

Interesting point, about the "crush zone?" thing.

This is a low speed area with a 25mph posted limit. I think deflection is more the name of the game here.

In my opinion the rub rail was MISSING, because it was installed up at 4ft.
And the bridge deck has a 6x10? looking beam as a "curb" running the length.

I think there should have been a rub rail installed at the mid point between curb and top rail.

The current damage was done because the vehicle's bumper hooked/collided with a vertical post.
Had there been a rub rail this bridge might not have been damaged, and the vehicle would have just suffered a nasty scrape.

 

[tgeb]

I would have a structural engineer look at it, and follow the engineer's recommendations.

The railing is no big deal, but if the impact damaged any of the structural members, they may need to be replaced/reinforced.

 

[Bearded Wonder]

I wouldn't be afraid to work on it, provided you aren't stepping into waters your insurance won't cover. But I would have an engineer spec all the work, and follow it to the letter. Sounds like a fun project.

 

[Inner10]

I'd sub it to a bridge company. Sounds like a whole lot a liability too me..

You pussy that's what engineered drawings are for.

 

[Aaron Berk]

Yes I'm totally gung ho for this one, just making sure my enthusiasm doesn't trump my sensibility.:thumbsup:

 

[Patrick]

I wouldn't be afraid to work on it, provided you aren't stepping into waters your insurance won't cover. But I would have an engineer spec all the work, and follow it to the letter. Sounds like a fun project.

One would hope not to step in any water

 

[Aaron Berk]

One would hope not to step in any water

Which is the whole point of a bridge any way, Right? :whistling:clap:

 

[RobertCDF]

Same reason I don't install mailboxes anymore..

Really? We've done a couple in conjunction with a deck project, some of them being stucco wrapped. One in particular might destroy the car if it ever gets hit.

 

[cairnstone]

Have it looked at by an engineer and price accordingly. Nothing complicated about bridges. It will have timber beams and deck.

 

[Aaron Berk]

Tried to upload pictures, but I'm getting error messages

 

[thom]

Doesn't GA require a specific license for roadways and bridges? Here in NM my commercial GC license doesn't cover it.