I have received such great advice from the members here, so I thought I would share the progress of my bridge and dock.
The bridge is 5' wide x 30' long. I did not want a normal flat style bridge so this is what I came up with.
Instead of scabbing a 2x6 on the inside where the two butt up, I decided to sandwich the joint of the joists between two pieces of 1/8" plate with 3/8" Galvanized carriage bolts. I made then 6 angle brackets to tie the joist to the 2x6s that went between the 6" pilings. These tied everything in extremely tight. There is zero side to side wobble when standing on top and trying to rock the bridge.
There will be no hand rail. I am going to run a 2x4 laid on its side down the outer edge on each side of the bridge. This will act as a rub rail when I drive my mower over the bridge and give it a finished look.
As soon as the rain slacks off I will get back on the dock. It will be 8' wide and extend 12'. Here is where I am currently at with it.
This is 8'x8', there will be a 4' overhang off the end.
