Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Crooked Bridge

The old bridge located next to our land is finally being replaced. This bridge is on the Rock River that runs adjacent east of Bremer Pond.

I don’t know how old it is, but it was old when we bought our acreage back in the late 70s (1970’s). It is all riveted construction with no welding anywhere. It is the last bridge of its type to be replaced in the county (that tells you how high we rate on the County Pecking Order!).

I am taking photos of the whole operation, so here we go…….

Any chance they would give you the bridge when they're done? I know a guy who did that and then put it over one of his ponds.

I'm glad you're taking the time to document this for us. I'm fired up about seeing it happen.

Next Photos:

Almost up to date:

I did ask, but it was cost prohibitive. Just moving it was way over budget for a pond ornament. Underwater structure; I might have thought a little longer…

I know a fellow back home that actually bought one of these from the county when they took it out of commission. He spanned the spillway of his 65 acre lake with it. In his case money was no object and that was when oil was only 12 dollars a barrel. It's now close to 100$, I suspect he might be able to purchase the golden gate now if it ever becomes available. The link below is of a suspension bridge near my home town. It was taken out of service only a few years ago. A relative of mine got to sipping on the good stuff about 2 years ago around mid night and drove past the barricades and crossed it in his pickup. He said the next morning when he awake he went back to look at it and pretty much went in shock after realizing how many road planks were broke or totally missing from the bridge after his little adventure. He suspects he and his 2 passengers will go down in history as the last people to ever drive across the historical land mark. I think it was Corona he said.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...LJ_enUS229US229

They are lucky that they didn't go straight down through the bridge rather than down in history. Yikes!

Driving anything while drinking is always an extremely bad idea!

I admit that I will on occasion have a little something sitting in my cup holder on the riding lawn mower to keep my concentration peaked.......

Did the workers mention how old the bridge is? I'm guessing between 1920 and 1940.

Here's one in KY that was REALLY crooked. This is what happens when a D9 hits a bridge at 55MPH.




Here it is about 10 days later after a little straightening

Ryan - The oldest guy I know around here is 90ish. His comment, "Dat bridge was dare when I was a pup". That would indicate somewhere plus or minus the late 19teens.

Out of curiosty, what was the approximate tab to straigten that birdge?

You should start a website bentbridge.com

<$100K

The old bridge is gone



These are the remains; the sides and cross beams

Two days of serious progress on the road bed have occurred.

This photo is from the end of our driveway looking east.

Dwight those beams look like a good foundation for the " Life is Good II " barge - aka " Queen Mary II Bremer Barge".

Driving Piles:

The first two pictures are from the other side of the river looking to the west.

The third one is looking east from our driveway.

Dwight that foundation looks low to me. I thought that river flooded a bunch. Is it a low water bridge ?

ewest - That is the underwater frame that provides structure for the Topeka Shiners. It is all about the Topekas!

I finally got down there for a photo update after 2 months on crutch. I assume they are pouring concrete before the the ground thaws and all their stuff is stuck in the mud or worse.

Ready to pour concrete, but need some warmer average temperatures.

They will finally be pouring tomorrow. I will try to get a photo or two.

They did finally get the bridge deck poured yesterday. I took the photo around noon when they were moving equipment to the east side of the river to finish pouring that end of the deck.

They had 3 ready mix trucks on site at all times. One unloading into the concrete pumper (what ever it is called), one waiting to unload and one doing wash-out prior to getting another load. The Ready Mix plant is about 20 miles away so they must have had quite a few trucks running.

It won't be long now.

That Burb and RV trailer on the left is where the Bridge Troll lives ..

Well, I guess he can't be expected to actually move in under the bridge until it's finished.

Final Report:

Looking east at the end of our driveway.


Looking north from the east side of the pond.


The end

Dunno about you guys, but I absolutely LOVE to watch projects like this. I can watch heavy equipment all day long...but my wife and kids say I'm weird, anyway...