Trout Brook Bridge - Official Work Thread

[Paul Uhland]

Wayne...
At 218/ROW:
NB--
*train stops at gate which brakeman unlocks, opens.
*road flagged as train crosses 218, re-stops clear of crossing.
*brakeman re-locks gate, quickly hops train, trip continues.
 SB--
*train stops short of 218.
*gate opened, train flagged across road.
*stops clear of 218 and gate which brakeman re-locks, trip resumes.

Minimal auto holdup, no train 'parked' on roadway.
I've dealt with: C&TS flagging, ATSF rail gates.

[Brendan Barry]

Dumping a load of 1.5" stone off the south end of the bridge to finish the crib abutment pad.





We used the excavator to walk the crib abutment across the bridge and lower the abutment into place.





After the abutment was in place another load of 1.5" stone was dumped off the bridge to fill the abutment using the mini excavator.



After the abutment was full of stone our local excavation contractor started dumping loads of rip rap so we could back fill around the abutment.









The abutment filled with crush stone and starting to be backfilled with rip rap.



Moving rip rap to the back of the abutment to make a ramp to get the excavator up on top of the abutment.



Another load of rip rap being dumped.



End of the day Tuesday.



Moving rip rap Wdnesday morning. There was alot of rain Wednesday night and the brook came up a couple of feet in the morning.



Looking out of the excavtor sitting on top of the abutment. We had to build cribbing on top of the pile caps to get the dump trucks out to the end of the bridge. We used the cut offs from the bridge floor beams and temporarily installed some of the decking boards out over the cribbing.



Putting the mud sill in place on the crib abutment.





Checking the mud sill height.



The first south approach span stringer going in.



Steve slinging the second approach span stringer.



The last stringer going in.



Drilling the stringers and pile cap for pins.



Looking north with the stringers in.



Randy and Jason driving the pins to secure the stringers to the mud sill.



Ice and water shield applied to the top of the stringers.



Putting the end cap on the stringers.



Ties placed on the approach span for installation tomorrow.

[Bill Reidy]

Just incredible progress this week -- WOW!

Thanks for posting the photos, Brendan.

[Mike Fox]

I had to stop and think what day it is. I thought I missed a day someplace and was one day closer to the weekend.

Great progress..

Thanks for the pics Brendan. The brook will be higher Thursday..

[Jeff Schumaker]

Simply amazing. My hat's off to the weekday work crew.

Jeff S.

[Bill Baskerville]

Wowie, dowie, the mountain and the bridge crew are just amazing... amazing.

Incredibly impressive!

[Steve Smith]

Can somebody tell us what was the combined weight of Jeff's dump truck and the load of stone?

I'm wondering how that weight would compare with the weight of No. 9 with normal boiler water level and with coal bunker and tender tank full.

[John McNamara]

Less than the standard gauge trains the original bridge carried.

[Gary Kraske]

I would think the standard gauge locomotives were either Consolidations or Mikados.  They were taking fairly long trains into and out of the Berlin, NH paper mill.  I was in Rumford at the Oxford paper company mill where loaded train lengths of 1/4 to 1/2 mile were shipped daily about 363 days a year in the early 50's.  Also at the time the mill was still using coal as a fuel so incoming daily trains held about 600 tons of coal plus other chemicals and coatings such as clay from Georgia. The Berlin mill was one of our direct competitors.  The bridge you all have striven successfully would have had to handle these weights on a daily basis. 

[Joe Fox]

I was told that missing stringers slightly reduced the bridge rating, and the truck weighs in around 54,000 lbs loaded. Which is close to the weight of future #11.

[Mike Fox]

Figuring the Jeffs truck weighs 60,000# is a good safety factor. The trusses are designed for a lot more loading than that, with the weight being spread out by rail. The trucks load is spread out by the decking. So the roughly 20,000# rear axles loading is not directly on one timber.

[Benjamin Richards]

I would think the standard gauge locomotives were either Consolidations or Mikados. 

Consolidations would be my guess, too. (B&M didn't roster any Mikados.)

Steam power aside, the photo gallery on the fundrazr page shows B&M GP7 #1560 crossing the bridge, which clocks in at ~250,000lbs. So that means the original span was comfortable with at least ~125,000 plus half a loaded freight car.

Even without the stringers, I think WW&F usage is well within its limits.

[Brendan Barry]

The bridge ties being laid out and drilled for spikes on the approach span.



Two of the spikes that secure the bridge ties are sticking up in the foreground. Each ties gets four spikes driven into the stringers.



North approach span from the west side of the bridge. Jason is driving a tie spike above.



Approach span ties all done.



Starting to put the decking on the approach span.





Word has come that a dump truck is coming to deliver rip rap to the south side of the bridge shortly throwing the decking crew into hurry up mode.







First load of rip rap being delivered to bring the grade up on the south side of the bridge.



After the truck left the decking crew was back at it.



Second load of rip rap delivered.



The final truck load of rip rap being delivered for the season.







The first motorized crossing all the way across the bridge went to the little Komatsu excavator.









Looking south after the south side of the bridge had been backfilled.



Looking north across the bridge.



South approach span finished.



Looking north on the east side.



Looking upstream at the east side of the bridge from the bend in the brook.





That's it we're done for the year. Tomorrow we have to seed and mulch the south side of the bridge site and pick up some stuff from around the bridge site.

[Bill Reidy]

Thanks Brendan!

[James Patten]

Looking back at the history of this project, it was announced on the forum in late August last year that we'd been gifted the bridge.  I think the parts arrived after last year's FWW.  From kit to emplaced structure in a year.  That's an impressive feat.

It would not have been possible without financial support of all of our members.  Last year's Fund Drive was truly outstanding and it appears that this year's is well on its way to being outstanding as well.  Thank you one and all.

I am curious to see what the bill will be from Chesterfield Associates