Hand-Made Stainless Steel Driveway Bridge - Elba, MN, USA

jrico01

My dad, I and a few other guys built 2 bridges: the 1st is a stainless steel driveway bridge, and the 2nd is a stainless steel walking bridge, both over the same ravine. Also, the driveway bridge can hold 90 TONS, it has 6 stainless steel I-Beams w/ 86 yards of concrete as a foundation. Enjoy. BTW, these were built at our house in Elba, MN, USA. Thanks for viewing!

The engineering done was only to calculate how strong the beams would have to be vs the length of the beams to hold as much weight as 90 tons. Then we added the verticle beams for additional stability support.

ALSO, I forgot to credit my stepmom. The top of the bridge was made from the expanded steel for the weight and this material never gets slippery with ice and snow does not accumulate for additional weight - it was her idea!

A few more details: The bridge itself is 120 feet and with approaches it is 160 feet. The walking bridge is 140 feet.

Clutchcargo

Wait a minute
You built that yourself? and it supports a car?
In a word, WOW.
I can't imagine the grief they gave you at the building office.

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jrico01

Hi Clutchcargo! Thanks for viewing so fast! Yes, we built them all by hand; no contractors, no advanced heavy industrial machinery except for the Readymix concrete. Just 5 guys, shovels, welders, etc. It supports more than 1 car at a time, at a maximum of course. We had to get some permits, and the Department of Natural Resources was out to check it out. Overall, a great experience and a strong sense of accomplishment. Thanks again!

Scuba_Dave

It's not in New England - not a covered bridge

Nice work, was there something there before?

jrico01

Hi Scuba Dave. The area immediately as the ravine was covered by scattered trees. The entire area is at the base of a valley in Whitewater State Park. We could have just scraped the ground, pressed it and poured crushed rock but why not make it a challenge. Thanks for the kind words and for viewing!

WaldenL

Great work! But wouldn't it have been cheaper to just buy a Jeep and drive through the ravine! Hate to see the cost of the steel. Love to have seen the readymix guys face when he pulled up and saw what you were DIY-ing.

jrico01

Hi WaldenL. The steel I'm sure was expensive. I'll have to get that figure and weight from my dad but I do remember we bought it and the beams stored for about a year. It was tough getting those beams out there too due to all of the valley roads and bluff terrain. The Readymix guys were a bit surprised but we inovated w/ a ply-wood structure. Too much fun. Thanks for viewing!

KAdams4458

Holy cow. Talk about raising the DIY bar.

That definitely puts my high school popsicle stick bridge to shame.

Mr Chips

KID STUFF!!

Here's the bridge I built, with nothing but my swiss army knife, a roll of baling twine, and a stick of Big Red

Nice work jrico01, very impressive

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Those who can, do...
Those who can't criticize on the internet

jrico01

Thanks for stoppin by! The irony being I never did get to build a popsicle bridge! -jrico

WaldenL

Chips... interested in selling that bridge? I may have a buyer.

jrico01

Added a few more details!

Tigwldr

Why did you paint the stainless? It doesn't rust....


How long ago was this built. I like doing stuff like this project. Did it for a living until I started in the power turbine and boiler industry.

Scuba_Dave

If you have to add details its best to just put them in a new post (or both)
Makes it less confusing to people who have already read the original posts