We are often asked the questions that have been compiled below. We hope that you will find these questions useful, should you need further advice, please feel free to call on our friendly sales staff.
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Can you send me a catalog or price sheet of your bridges? |
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We continue to make every attempt to standardize our bridge design details, fabrication processes, and railing designs. Even so, as each bridge site is unique in nature, we compile a custom bridge specifically tailored to each job site. Because we rarely send out two exactly identical bridges, we do not have a catalog or price sheet containing standardized or 'generic' bridge structures.
We encourage you to contact our sales staff who will be happy to discuss your bridge needs in detail, and then provide you a written estimate on any portion of your project for which we will be responsible. |
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Why should I choose Skip Gibbs Company to build my bridge? |
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There are a number of reasons why our company excells at making bridges.
| 1. |
Quality:
If you value a commitment to quality, old-fashioned service and overall integrity, then you've already found your bridge company to be! Our repeat customers, as well as first time buyers, have many good things to say about us. Our Information Library section has a .pdf document noting our high approval rating among our customers titled satisfied_customers.pdf. Many contractors, business people and homeowners have come to rely on our ability to get the job done on schedule, with minimal complications, and most importantly, to do it correctly the first time! We are a family run enterprise who is still concerned with satisfying our client's needs at fair prices. |
| 2. |
Strength and reliability:
Steel girders provide dependable service with safety for many years to come. Even in a worst case scenario, a catastrophic failure of a steel girder would result in bent metal, whereas a catastrophic failure of a bridge constructed from laminated wood beams, or structural concrete beams may result in a wet and very unhappy car load of people! |
| 3. |
Experience:
Good old fashioned experience. We have participated in the construction of hundreds of bridges, literally! Some of these we have been responsible for constructing from 40 feet underground and up, while others we have acted as a knowledgeable manufacturer and provided a well-designed feasible bridge superstructure. |
| 4. |
Quick Installation:
In both California and Nevada, where we are licensed to perform bridge installations, we frequently have customers comment that they expected our well seasoned bridge installation crew to take more than two-three times longer to complete the job than we actually took! All we can say is thank you. Experience pays for us, and saves money and hassles for you! |
| 5. |
Longevity and Low maintenance:
Our main product lines, Newspan® and Railspan® offer the benefits of a long structural lifespan, followed up by minimal maintenance throughout that time-frame. Many other material options offered for the construction of bridge superstructures are more prone to life-limiting problems, such as timber bridges cracking, shrinking or warping, or concrete bridges developing a structural crack if there is any uneven differential settling, or an earthquake. |
| 6. |
Cost:
Our customers are often entirely impressed with the fact that our cost structure typically meets or beats other all other bridge manufacturers. We are able to provide a quality bridge product to clients who might otherwise be stuck with an inferior home-made bridge, or a low-water crossing when river flows allow it, or add another five-figure mortgage to their properties to finance the new bridge. |
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How come I've never heard of your company before? |
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We take great pride in being a 100% family owned and operated enterprise. We have not chosen to attempt to expand our business such that we would lose the quality of service and customer commitment that we now provide. We have become well known in our field by many frequent repeat customers (such as developers, contractors, irrigation districts, and ranchers) who rely on us to complete their bridge projects on schedule, at the originally projected cost with no hassles. In the past we have only advertised once each 4-5 years to a selected group of clientele that we feel would benefit from learning about our company, products and services. |
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Will my bridge come pre-engineered?
Can I get engineering for my bridge project? |
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We do not offer pre-engineered bridge packages, as each bridge is unique in nature as is each of us! Some bridges carry golfers and their golf carts, others may carry 250,000 lb. earth movers. Some bridges may be in a very mild climate in Arizona, while others may sit in a more active environment, such as northern Washington, or even Alaska. It would not be appropriate to offer generalized engineering when so many possibilities for usage exist!
| Newspan®: |
Through our designated engineering partners, we do provide superstructure design, and often complete bridge design. |
| Railspan®: |
We can provide necessary design and/or design support for these projects. |
We may be able to recommend a registered civil engineer in your area from our pool of experienced and qualified professionals familiar with our products. |
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Can I get Skip Gibbs Company to take care of my entire bridge project from start to finish? |
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Skip Gibbs Company is licensed to construct bridges in California and Nevada and will propose complete installed projects in those states when requested. In any other states, we can search our computer database to find contractors who have successfully worked with our bridge products in the past. |
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How much lead time will you require from when I make a decision as to what type of bridge that I'll be building until it is delivered to my job site? |
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There are many variables in determining the lead time. We schedule our projects on a first-come first-served basis, but our schedule board changes weekly to best accommodate the needs of all our customers. Seasonal variations in weather can both delay our fabrication schedule, or allow us to complete a project ahead of time! Other factors of importance in scheduling the project include the scope of fabrication work to be included, as well as the bridge selected: Newspan® (built from scratch from weathering steel) or Railspan® built on the framework of a railroad flatcar.
In most cases, we are waiting for the customer to request delivery, as opposed to the customer waiting for us to finish and deliver the bridge modules. |
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What are the differences between your Newspan® and Railspan® bridges? Which one would be most appropriate for me? |
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An excellent question!
Our Newspan® bridges are constructed at our plant from scratch using only ASTM A588 grade 50 high-strength weathering steel for all structural portions of the bridge. These bridges will not normally require any coatings, and will therefore rust to a deep red-brown oxide color.
Our Railspan® bridges are built on the framework of recycled railroad flatcar bridges. Most of them have seen 30-40 years of railroad life, and have been retired from service due largely to changing needs in railroad transportation. We do not utilize flatcar structures from train derailments!
We normally fabricate railings onto these structures, and are able to abrasive grit-blast and re-coat the entire accessible portion of the each structure.
In deciding which bridge would be most appropriate for your project, it would be advisable to ask yourself and those most familiar with the job the following questions:
| 1. |
Will your bridge be temporary or permanent?
If a temporary bridge is needed, unless you require a clear span of more than 80 feet, or especially heavy loadings at a long span, a Railspan® bridge will be the most appropriate answer. If you will require a clear span longer than 80 feet, or wish to use the bridge for heavy loadings at longer spans, then although your bridge is temporary, Newspan® would be a more appropriate bridge. |
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What type of application is your project?
In other words, will your bridge be for a residence? A city street or county road? A subdivision? Golf course? Cattle crossing? Or another of the many types of bridge crossing applications |
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Does your project require only new materials to be used?
Our Newspan® line of bridges is constructed solely from brand new materials, and all structural portions are built from ASTM A588 grade 50 high-strength weathering steel. |
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What will be the maximum length of clear span?
Generally, Railspan® units are limited to 80 feet, rarely as much as 87 feet. (Spans may be adjoined end-to-end). Longer spans will require Newspan® design. |
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Will you need the bridge for immediate or emergency use?
Railspan® bridges are complete with steel deck and can be in use the day after delivery, while most Newspan® structures require the pouring and curing of the deck. Although we stock weathering steel, Newpan® structures may require steel to be ordered from the mills, resulting in a possible delay. |
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How accessible is your bridge site for a semi-truck and crane?
In extreme circumstances where there is no easy access for our delivery semi-trucks, our Railspan® units may be off-loaded at the closest accessible location, and then skidded behind a Caterpillar™ dozer to the final bridge site. We have had some customers skid our Railspan® units as much as 6-7 miles into the back-country! Railspan® bridges are quite strong, and have a naturally occuring 24" wide bottom box-girder flange which tapers upward near each end allowing easy skidding with minimal damage to existing roads.
Our Newspan® bridges, while extremely strong, once installed as a bridge lack the structural rigidity to be successfully skidded behind heavy equipment. |
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In what lengths & widths are you able to construct the Newspan® bridges? |
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All Newspan® bridges are custom-constructed from scratch. We are able to build Newspan® bridges in any width, and up to 120 feet between substructural supports. This is not to say that your Newspan® bridge superstructure is limited to a total length of 120 feet. If you are able to have a substructure support no farther than 120 feet from the last point of support, you will be able to construct a bridge of virtually unlimited length. As an example, a bridge with one center support at mid-stream could be as long as 240 feet. If you are able to have two intermediate supports between river banks on your bridge you may cross up to 360 feet, and so on. |
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What are the options for the finished decking my Newspan® bridge? |
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There are three main options available to you for the crossing surface of your Newspan® bridge.
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Structurally reinforced concrete, finished to a rough traction surface. Generally, if time allows, concrete will be the most cost effective, and will provide a suitable wear surface |
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Exposed steel decking. In special cases, orthotropic steel deck may be appropriate, though somewhat more expensive. |
| 3. |
Steel decking, covered with an Asphalt Concrete overlay. |
The local climatological conditions should be considered, as well as bridge loadings and use when determining the most appropriate bridge deck. |
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How will you deliver my Newspan® bridge?
What will I do with it then? |
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We have delivered long loads for many years. We deliver all of our Newspan® bridge products in large modular pieces. Typically the bridge piece will be divided into equal sections long-ways (if required). The bridge sections will usually be transported in 10-12 foot wide x the length of the bridge span (up to 100 ft.).
At the job site, we, or your installation contractor will have made prior arrangements for adequate heavy equipment to unload our bridge modules. Typically if your Newspan® bridge modules measure at more than 50-60 feet long a large crane (100+ ton capacity) will be required. The crane will remove the modules from the transport trucks and at the same time place the structure over the crossing under our direction, or the direction of the installation contractor. Once all large modular pieces are satisfactorily aligned with each other on the bridge substructure we, orthe installation contractor will proceed to fasten the large modular components together per the engineer's plans. When finished, if a reinforced concrete deck system has been chosen, a concrete contractor may finish any forming work, place the structural reinforcing bars, and proceed to pour the structural deck of your Newspan® bridge. From this point onward, all that will be left is to cover and allow the concrete deck an adequate period of time to cure sufficiently (typically 28 days), complete the bridge approach back-filling and compaction, and you'll be ready to drive across your Newspan® bridge.
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How much will my Newspan® bridge weigh when it arrives at the site? |
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The weight of your Newspan® bridge will depend largely on the dimensions of the structure. As a rule of thumb, you may approximate 45 pounds / square foot on the larger Newspan® bridge structures designed for concrete deck. |
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Will my Newspan® bridge have a splice midspan? |
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We believe that if we are physically able to deliver a bridge to a job site without splices, it should not contain splices. From support to support, in your bridge, the structural load-carrying sections will each be in one contiguous piece.
Due to the feasibility of transporting such structures, if your bridge has a net usable width of greater than 12 feet between inside railing faces, your bridge will be delivered to the site in more than one piece. Each of these modular pieces will be placed on the substructure supports side-by-side, and appropriately fastened together on site. |
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Will my Newspan® bridge require coatings? |
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In most climatological conditions, your Newspan® bridge will not require any coating other than its own rust. The metallurgic composition of weathering steel, which contains significant amounts of copper, is such that the Newspan® structure will in time produce its own protective barrier against Mother Nature.
Should you live in an extremely active environment, such as a coastal area, or in an area of very high rainfall rates such as the Pacific Northwest, your Newspan® bridge may be coated with a two coat moisture-cure urethane paint system that has been specially designed for use on bridges. |
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What kind of spans can I attain using your Newspan® bridges? |
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At this time we are able to provide our customers with up to 120 ft. clear spans using our Newspan® CB (Composite Bridge) or OB (Orthotropic Bridge) product line without making use of midspan splices. Our Newspan® DP (Deck Panel) bridge series can span any openings up to 30 feet. |
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What kind of loadings can I expect to be able to take across my Newspan® bridge? |
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For planning purposes, we will generalize by saying that most of our Newspan® bridges have been successfully calculated to support HS20-44 loadings (a legally loaded highway semi-truck) and can be designed for HS25. Typical concrete mixers and fire engines fall into a bridge loading category that is less than or equal to HS20-44.
Many factors play a role in determining the amount of weight that your Newspan® bridge will support, such as the length of clear-span, the axle configuration of the vehicular traffic crossing the bridge, and the speed of the traffic. |
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What is a 'substructure' and what are my options for a Newspan® bridge substructure? |
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We will often refer to a bridge's 'superstructure' apart from its 'substructure'. Simply put, the superstructure is the portion of the bridge that actually carries the load across the span. The substructure is the system of abutments, or bearing supports which is designed to adequately hold-up the superstructure without falling over, being undermined by the river, or sinking deeper into the ground. A typical bridge substructure might consist of one of the following systems.
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Driven steel piling (H-beams, pipe, or sheet piles) with steel or concrete pile caps. |
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Cast-in-drilled-hole structural concrete columns with a structural concrete abutment cap/seat |
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Structural concrete spread footing/stemwall combination with an integral concrete abutment seat. |
The first two substructure options mentioned are known as 'deep' substructures, as their bottoms are normally found no shallower than 30-40 feet under ground. A typical spread footing may only extend as little as 6-8 feet under ground. As a rule of thumb, if there is a likelihood of scour, a deep substructure should be utilized.
Let's look at that more simply. Water is Mother Nature's best acting force of erosion and destruction. All rivers and creeks carry a certain amount of aggregate suspended in the flow of the water such as silt, sand, gravel, boulders, etc. as well as the branches and tree trunks that we are able to spot from above a river or stream. All of this material that the river is carrying has a potential destructive force, as is the water itself; its evidence is shown in freshly cut creek banks each Spring.
If your situation is such that you are unable to place your substructural support system far enough away from the stream bed, or your bridge lies just downstream of a bend in the river (which may gradually progress toward your bridge) then you would be best suited to opt for a deep substructure for your abutment system.
Other factors that would play a role in the selection of the most appropriate substructure system would be the soils found at the bridge site. It might be impossible to drill a hole for a concrete column through a boulder the size of a car engine, or surely you could not drive steel piles into solid granite!
Of course we always recommend that you engage a competent registered professional engineer who is familiar with bridge design including abutments, your bridge site location your soils and recorded water flows in your creek or river. |
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Why do I need railings on my Newspan® bridge?
What are my available choices and how will I know which one will be most appropriate for my application? |
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Railings are a necessary and integral part of any bridge! The not only provide visual cues to drivers crossing bridges that are one lane or less, but they provide an added safety margin. For wider bridges, railings will generally restrain a vehicle that may lose control on a bridge in extremely wet or icy conditions, for example. They also inspire confidence in pedestrians crossing a bridge. For the elderly, a solid handrail is always a welcome addition to any bridge.
We have a considerable number of railing choices from which to choose. When you speak with our sales representatives they will be happy to assist you in selecting the most appropriate railing to your bridge project. The following considerations must be addressed when selecting a bridge railing.
| 1. |
What will the traffic on your Newspan® bridge be?
Pedestrians? Bicyclists? Equestrians? Golf Carts? Vehicles?
We have several railing options that serve only pedestrians , others for bicycles and horse-riders only. However on most of our bridges, our customers select a 'combination' railing that encompasses the structural qualities demanded by a vehicular railing while accommodating the needs of pedestrians at the same time. We have quite a few that do both, while providing a beautiful presentation at the same time! |
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Are there any minimum opening spacing requirements in effect where you will be installing your Newspan® bridge?
• The Uniform Building Code (UBC), which we feel is more appropriate to residential and commercial structures than bridges, requires openings in a banister or deck railing be less than 4 inches.
• The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) which is the most comprehensive governing board to bridge structural loadings and railing impact forces suggests that spacings may be 6 inches and 8 inches. |
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Are the overall aesthetics of the bridge of concern? Will the bridge be in plain sight from a house, or will it serve as a main entrance to a subdivision? Or is it purely utilitarian, and out of sight most of the time?
We have many railings to chose from that range from plain, simple and down to business all the way to just darn pretty to look at that everybody will enjoy each time they cross your Newspan® bridge! |
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What kind of heavy equipment will be required at my site to efficiently off-load your Newspan® bridge piece(s)? |
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Another excellent question! Please note the word 'efficiently' in the question as well!
When your Newspan® bridge components arrive at your job site on trucks, they will come equipped with steel lifting eyes to facilitate the ease of removal of the units. A large crane will be required to remove the Newspan® units from the trucks. The required size of the crane will depend on three things:
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The overall weight of the Newspan® structure to be removed from the truck. |
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The farthest distance out at which the crane must support the Newspan® bridge.
This is normally when the crane is reaching from where it has been set-up to set the Newspan® bridge superstructure in place. This would be measured from the crane house to the center of lifting (normally the center of the Newspan® bridge superstructure). |
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The proximity to the final bridge resting place that the crane can attain.
If the crane can only get to within 30 feet, for example, from the end of the bridge location, a much larger crane will be required than if the crane is able to set-up at the end of the Newspan® bridge's final resting position, or even abeam it. |
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In what lengths & widths are your Railspan® flatcars available? |
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Although in the past we have had Railspan® flatcar bridge modules available in a multitude of lengths and widths, our most typical size at present date is 89 feet long x 8-1/2 feet wide. Each of these units is modular in the sense that whole or partial length units may be placed side-by-side or end-to-end as many times as required to achieve the required bridge dimensions. |
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How much will your Railspan® modules weigh when they arrive at my job site? |
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A full length Railspan® flatcar bridge module (89 feet long x 8-1/2 feet wide) will weigh in at approximately 44,000 pounds or 22 tons. For shorter versions, a weight of approximately 500 pounds/lineal foot of each unit may be calculated. It is important to remember that the provided weight figure is calculated before any steel fabrication is done to the Railspan® modules, such as the addition of bridge railings, or girder strengthening devices. |
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What kind of heavy equipment will be required at my site to efficiently off-load your Railspan® bridge piece(s)? |
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Another excellent question! Please note the word 'efficiently' in the question as well!
When your Railspan® bridge components arrive at your job site on trucks, they will come equipped with steel lifting eyes to facilitate the ease of removal of the units. A large crane will be required to remove the Railspan® units from the trucks. The required size of the crane will depend on three things:
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The overall weight of the Railspan® structure to be removed from the truck. |
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The farthest distance out at which the crane must support the Railspan® bridge.
This is normally when the crane is reaching from where it has been set-up to set the Railspan® bridge superstructure in place. This would be measured from the crane house to the center of lifting (normally the center of the Railspan® bridge superstructure). |
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The proximity to the final bridge resting place that the crane can attain.
If the crane can only get to within 30 feet, for example, from the end of the bridge location, a much larger crane will be required than if the crane is able to set-up at the end of the Railspan® bridge's final resting position, or even abeam it. |
In more rural locations, heavy equipment which may be found on site can sometimes be put to use in the off-loading and placing of the Railspan® bridge structures. In order to accomplish these processes safely and efficiently, correctly sized equipment and a skilled operator must be used. The equipment listed below would be the minimum size required to efficiently off-load a full-size Railspan® bridge unit.
We recommend that in no case a piece of machinery smaller than the following be utilized:
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Newer model Caterpillar™ D-6 or D-7 dozer with strong hydraulics.
When utilizing a dozer, a unit with a hydraulic winch, and an angle blade will prove most useful. |
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A Caterpillar™ 225/335 or 235/345 excavator with strong hydraulics |
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Caterpillar™ 980 or 988 loader (some 966 loaders will be adequate) with strong hydraulics. |
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What kind of loadings can I expect to take across my Railspan® bridge? |
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For planning purposes, we will generalize by saying that most of our Railspan® bridges utilizing two matched units placed in use side-by-side for spans up to 80 feet have been successfully calculated to support HS20-44 loadings (a legally loaded highway semi-truck). All typical concrete mixers and rural fire engines fall into a bridge loading category that is less than HS20-44.
Many factors play a role in determining the amount of weight that your Railspan® bridge will support, such as the length of clear-span, the axle configuration of the vehicular traffic crossing the bridge, and the speed of the traffic to name just a few. |
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What are my options for paint (and available colors) on my Railspan® bridge? |
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Customers purchasing a Railspan® bridge have two options for paint.
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Sand-blast & Re-coat:
Although many of us refer to this process as 'Sand-blasting' we actually use an abrasive grit product that is sharper than sand, and therefore cuts the old paint and occasional rust away faster and cleaner. When this option is selected, our workmen will abrasive grit-blast all accessible portions of the Railspan® bridge structure to a Commercial Metal preparation (SSPC SP-6). We will then begin the process of re-coating the entire accessible portion of the structure with a zinc-rich moisture cure urethane primer, followed up by a moisture-cure urethane tar top-coat. These urethanes have been designed specifically with bridges in mind, and are darn tough! Remember this: If any of the wet paint should find its way onto a person's fingers, once cured the only way that it will come off is with a pumice stone - taking a few layers of skin with it!
Color selection: Red Oxide. Deep burgundy red color, no gloss.
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Complimentary enamel paint job:
Each Railspan® unit that leaves our production facilities goes out painted! Following new steel fabrication on each Railspan® unit all bare steel is painted with heavy-duty quality shop primer. All other existing paint from when the structure was in railroad use will be left intact. All exposed sidesills and newly fabricated railings will be top-coated with high-quality heavy-duty enamel paint, typically Rust-Oleum™ or a comparable paint.
| Color selection: Customer's choice. |
| Normally Medium chestnut brown, Medium green, Tan, Deep golden-yellow, |
| or specified by you! |
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In either case, your Railspan® bridge will be shipped with a minimum of one pint of touch-up paint in the top-coat color to take care of any scratches that it may have incurred during transportation, handling and placement. |
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What is a 'substructure' and what are my options for a Railspan® bridge substructure? |
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We will often refer to a bridge's 'superstructure' apart from its 'substructure'. Simply put, the superstructure is the portion of the bridge that actually carries the load across the span. The substructure is the system of abutments, or bearing supports which is designed to adequately hold-up the superstructure without falling over, being undermined by the river, or sinking deeper into the ground. A typical bridge substructure might consist of one of the following systems.
| 1. |
Driven steel piling (H-beams, pipe, or sheet piles) with steel or concrete pile caps. |
| 2. |
Cast-in-drilled-hole structural concrete columns with a structural concrete abutment cap/seat |
| 3. |
Structural concrete spread footing/stemwall combination with an integral concrete abutment seat. |
The first two substructure options mentioned are known as 'deep' substructures, as their bottoms are normally found no shallower than 30-40 feet under ground. A typical spread footing may only extend as little as 6-8 feet under ground. As a rule of thumb, if there is a likelihood of scour, a deep substructure should be utilized.
Let's look at that more simply. Water is Mother Nature's best acting force of erosion and destruction. All rivers and creeks carry a certain amount of aggregate suspended in the flow of the water such as silt, sand, gravel, boulders, etc. as well as the branches and tree trunks that we are able to spot from above a river or stream. All of this material that the river is carrying has a potential destructive force, as is water itself; its evidence is shown in freshly cut receding creek banks each Spring.
If your situation is such that you are unable to place your substructural support system far enough away from the stream bed, or your bridge lies just downstream of a bend in the river (which may gradually progress toward your bridge) then you would be best suited to opt for a deep substructure for your abutment system.
Other factors that would play a role in the selection of the most appropriate substructure system would be the soils found at the bridge site. It might be impossible to drill a hole for a concrete column through a boulder the size of a car engine, or surely you could not drive steel piles into solid granite!
Of course we always recommend that you engage a competent registered professional engineer who is familiar with bridge design including abutments, as well as your bridge site location including the soils and recorded water flows in your creek or river. |
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Why do I need railings on my Railspan® bridge?
What are my available choices?
How will I know which one will be most appropriate for my application? |
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Railings are a necessary and integral part of any bridge! The not only provide visual cues to drivers crossing bridges that are one lane or less, but they provide an added safety margin. For wider bridges, railings will generally restrain a vehicle that may lose control on a bridge in extremely wet or icy conditions, for example. They also inspire confidence in pedestrians crossing a bridge. For the elderly, a solid handrail is always a welcome addition to any bridge.
We have a considerable number of railing choices from which to choose. The following considerations must be addressed when selecting a bridge railing.
| 1. |
What will the traffic on your Railspan® bridge be?
Pedestrians? Bicyclists? Equestrians? Golf Carts? Vehicles?
We have several railing options that would serve for pedestrians exclusively, or others for bicycles, or bridges with only horse-riders in mind. However on most of our bridges, our customers select a 'combination' railing that encompasses the structural qualities demanded by a vehicular railing while accommodating the needs of pedestrians at the same time. We have quite a few that do both, while providing a beautiful presentation at the same time! |
| 2. |
Are there any minimum opening spacing requirements in effect where you will be installing your Railspan® bridge?
• The Uniform Building Code (UBC), which we feel is more appropriate to residential and commercial structures than bridges, requires openings on a banister or deck railing be less than 4 inches.
• The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) which is the most comprehensive governing board to bridge structural loadings and railing impact forces suggests spacings of 6 inches and 8 inches. |
| 3. |
Are the overall aesthetics of the bridge of concern? Will the bridge be in plain site from a house, or will it serve as a main entrance to a subdivision? Or is it purely utilitarian, and out of sight most of the time?
We have many railings to chose from that range from plain, simple and down to business all the way to just darn pretty to look at that everybody will enjoy each time they cross your Railspan® bridge! |
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What are my available choices for the finished Railspan® bridge crossing deck? |
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There are two main options available to you for the crossing surface of your Railspan® bridge and a third less desirable alternative. All of our Railspan® flatcar bridge modules come with a smooth steel deck which is integral to the railroad flatcar design.
| 1. |
Existing steel decking, covered with an Asphalt Concrete overlay |
| 2. |
Exposed existing steel decking. |
| 3. |
Although we don't recommend it: Pressure-treated wood plank decking. The reason that we don't recommend this deck is that pacement of wood over steel tends to trap moisture, resulting in rusting the steel and rotting the wood. It has been our experience that the life span of a wooden bridge deck with today's lumber is short, and expensive to replace. There are certain times when a wood deck may be required, such as appearance, or to serve as an animal crossing: some livestock may be hesitant to cross a structure with a hollow sound . |
The climatological conditions should be considered, as well as bridge loadings and use when determining the most appropriate bridge deck. Asphalt decks, while not exempt from experiencing icing conditions in cold winter climate areas, may provide better traction, and certainly improve the appearance of the deck. |
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Do you get your Railspan® bridge units from train wrecks?
Do you use old boxcar bottoms? |
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Absolutely not. All of the Railspan® bridge units that we have in stock right now have been railed directly to us. For our Railspan® bridges, we utilize only flatcar units which have been retired from railroad service due mainly to changing demands on rail transportation. Also, quite often the moving parts under the flatcars have reached a point where they will require more maintenance than the unit is worth. Remember that a Railspan® bridge does not make use of any of the original moving parts found under the flatcar. It is important to keep in mind that all Railspan® bridge units are constructed from used materials, and therefore, each will flatcar will have its own inherent minimal cosmetic flaws. It is somewhat common that each structure will have experienced areas of rust here and there.
We do not sell old boxcar, gondola, or hopper car bottoms. All of these railcars require their sides (and sometimes roofs) to be intact to maintain their original structural integrity. If the sides and top from a boxcar are removed, and only the bottom framework is maintained, the structural strength of the unit is greatly diminished.
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