In California's Fieldbrook Valley, just North of Eureka, Ron pays a visit to Starr and Esther Kilian, who live on a fabulous 7 ½ acre piece of property that looks more like a state park than someone's backyard! The trouble is, this large parcel of land is divided in many places by drainage ditches. The existing bridges are beginning to fail, and the ditches are difficult to cross without them. Starr is hoping that Ron can teach him how to build the first bridge, using beautiful redwood from nearby forests, and then Starr and Esther can replace the remaining bridges when the repairs are needed.
Click Here For a list of what
you will need in order to complete this project.
Click Here to view the complete video of this project
|
 |
| |
|
1. The design:
- Ron had a good idea of what type of bridge would work best for this situation. The bridge was designed to rest on four concrete blocks or piers, two on each side of the creek.
|
 |
| |
|
- The piers will support two long beams…
|
 |
| |
|
- On top of the beam they will add the wooden treads or planks.
|
 |
| |
|
- They will finish the bridge with an attractive railing.
|
 |
| |
|
2. Place the piers:
- They used shovels and hand tools to level the ground where the piers would rest. The soil was moist so the digging went very quickly.
|
 |
| |
|
- They dropped the first concrete pier into place and then used a small torpedo level to make sure the pier was level in all directions.
|
 |
| |
|
- When they did the digging for the second pier, they had to make sure that this one was not only level, but also level with the first pier. Ron used a longer 4' level and frequently checked for level as they dug.
|
 |
| |
|
- They crossed to the other side of the creek to set the two remaining piers. To locate the desired position of the second two piers, Ron clamped the ends of two twelve foot planks to the piers they had just installed and then extended them across the creek, measuring to make sure the planks were exactly parallel.
|
 |
| |
|
- Once these planks were in position, the ends of the planks would determine where to locate the second set of piers. After a little more digging and levelling, the remaining piers were ready to go.
|
 |
| |
|
3. Support beams:
- With all four piers in place, they turned their attention toward building the support beams. The beams were 4 x 6 timbers that they made themselves by laminating two 2 x 6s together. First Ron and Starr applied a generous amount of construction adhesive to the face of one plank then set a second plank on top.
|
 |
| |
|
- The two planks were sandwiched together and then clamped.
|
 |
| |
|
- After gluing and clamping, the planks were bolted together with galvanized carriage bolts. Starr drilled two 3/8" clearance holes every 24 inches and Ron followed behind injecting silicone caulk into each hole, which helped keep water from seeping in and rotting the board from the inside out. They drove in the carriage bolts to form a strong, stable, warp resistant beam.
|
 |
| |
|
- On the reverse side of the beam, they attached galvanized washers and nuts on the carriage bolts and then used a socket wrench to tighten the nuts until the washers just began to compress the wood.
|
 |
| |
|
- The piers had metal straps for attaching the beams. After clamping the beams in place, they inserted a drill bit into the hole in the metal strap and bore all the way through the beam. Ron once again added a little silicone inside the hole and they drove in the bolts, screwed on the nuts and tightened them with a socket wrench.
|
 |
| |
|
4. Railing posts:
- They purchased pre-cut posts for the railing supports and clamped them temporarily in place. These posts were already notched on the bottom and had chamfers on the top.
|
 |
