Friends in low places

My sister and mum went over to check that the shedhouse was still standing.

And it is!  Ironcially enough - the ground is hardly even wet.  I guess it came down too fast to soak in.

She also took a video of what is left of the bridge.

Oh dear.



The fences are gone too - so that will be our weekend.

Flood fencing.

"If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plan."

Not sure if you all know this but it has been a bit wet up where we have been working.

As in, 552mm of rain in 72 hours wet.

That is 22 and a bit inches on the old scale.

So you know the beautiful bridge the the FB has been slaving over for the past 3 months?

Well, lets just say it ain't lookin so pretty now.

We haven't been to see it ourselves, it was too too wet/river too high to get to.  But our next door neighbour has been there.

The FB is understandably upset, and I am too.  It is so hard when you see all your hard work just washed away.

Erk.

On the upside, at least our new tanks and pump weren't delivered yet, so didn't get washed away.

Here are some pictures of the front bridge, during the flood and after the flood.

I will post an update after the weekend.

(with thanks to Bernie West)

During the flood.  It is usually about 2 metres from the bridge to the water.

All that water.  All that time. 



Lucky there is anything left at all.



High Water mark

Now we can get to our shedouse, we get to go to the next stage.

Water and plumbing.

The shed should be able to catch ample water for our needs - but we do need to keep the water somewhere.

The water set up will be a 22,500lt tank with a 1200 lt high tank - so we don't need to use the water pump all the time.

As we won't be on the electricty grid, solar/wind/water electricity is all we will have, and gas for heating.

So that means - doing everything the old fashioned way, including the water.

It won't be enough pressure to have a shower, but we will be able to fill the kettle, and the toilet  and to run the tap to wash your hands.    To create enough 'head', the small tank needs to be up high.

Luckily for me the FB is an accomplished welder.  He does, however, not like it and also hates it.  So I am very thankful that he has put his fab skills to good use and has created a high tank stand.

We were also lucky enough to have the material on site, so it could all happen fairly smoothly.


We have a welder that was gifted to us by the FB's father, which is in pretty good nick, and the lengths had to be cut with an angle grinder, not a drop saw, so the job was not without its challenges.

It was also completed on the HOTTEST day of the year/summer at 36c.

Which the FB does not like and also he hates as well.

Have a look at the work in progress:

Cross Bracing

The top section where the tank will sit

He might hate it, but he is SO good at it!

Not the only sparks that flew.

Its all in the approach

Because the bridge is linking a stocked paddock with a roadway, we need to put in a grid.

This of course requires more earthworks.  And a grid.

Luckily the one that was there previously is still in pretty good condition, so that can be used.  You also need abutments, and then a section of fencing from the bbridge to the grid.

The location of our bridge is a bit precarious - there are natural springs and bog holes that just kind of pop up in the wetter weather in this area.

So the FB has decided to use the grid as a type of bridge over one of these areas, in conjunction with a copule of hollow logs in the subsequent wettter areas on the road.

It makes more sense when you see it:






The grid needs a fairly big hole dug, and two more logs to sit on (these are the abutments).  In the link above, they are concrete, but you can cut a section like that out of a log, and sit the grid on.



You will have to imagine it without the water in it, this was after inches and inches of rain







This is the bridge from the side down in the creek and nothing at all to do with grids.

  Then it is fenced up:




And Bob's your boss!

The last thing to do is to get Jimmy Lamb to bring the backhoe and gravel and we are finished!

And all who drive on her.....

The maiden voyage!



The "White Dog" Landcruiser prepares for the maiden voyage







Just stop there and smile!





And the return trip!



And stop there too - so I can capture the way back.




(of course, as we are using the Cruiser as a roller as well, there was about 28 voyages in this time frame)

Next step:  The approach

There's a hole in my bridge, dear FB, dear FB

And we continue with the bridge!

as the bridge 'floor' has been laid, using logs side by side, it has come to the attention of the foreperson that there are some possible design issues with the current state.



Yes that is the river you can see through the bridge



That being said, it look great and I am very excited about being able to drive on it soon!

I was concerned that the logs might 'run away', so some stays had to be put in place.

This of course, needed two more logs, so there was more Axe Men action.

Then the Iseki post hole digger expereince you may remember from much earlier posts, and then putting the posts in with back fill and crow bar.

Luckily the Brother in Law was available as Tech support for the FB.

But the course of true love, much like this bridge, never runs smooth.

The logs don't meet up.  So we need to source some rocks to fill in the gaps.

My mum and I went up to the old gravel pit to pick up rocks - and then dumped them out of the Landcruiser and onto the bridge.



I am a rock fan!





Rocks, logs and a pile of soil



Then the FB got on with the earth works.

There were a few hairy moments (for me) when he was walking the machinery almost over the bridge....

But it looks great.  And ready for the maiden voyage!

I feel the earth move

The Bridge Saga continues.

So now we have the logs needed, they have to be put into place.

You may remember the ingredient list for the creation of the bridge, and that it doesn't include the word "Crane".

Some of you may see that as a problem, we see it as a challenge.  As in "challenge accepted!"

This is how the ballet of the bulldozer and the tractor is completed:

Act 1.

The tractor  is driven down across the creek, back up over the other side to the opposite bank.

The tractor operator then walks down and across the creek and back up the other side to the Dozer.

The Dozer pulls the logs into preparation place, in the correct order with the snig chain.

The drop to the water is about 2.3 metres.

Act 2.

The dozer using its blade, gently pushes the log across the void toward the opposite bank and waiting tractor, leaving a gap of about 1.5 metres.

The dozer operator then dismounts the dozer.

 The operator then uses spare chain to create a loop around the end of the log - with the loose end about 3 m long.



Then he walks down across the creek, back up the bank to the tractor.

When on the other side, he hooks the  snig chain up to the forks of the tractor - and throws the loose end toward the waiting log, and sometime assistant - who then links the two chains up.

Act 3.

The tractor operator lifts the forks of the dozer and reverses slowly.

The log is pulled gently and precicely into place.

A gentle applause is heard.




This ballet is performed at least 12 times.

Evidence here:

The Founding Fathers

The Bridge Saga continues:

Up until this point, there has been a missing component to the success of the bridge.

Whilst all the ground work has been done, there is no yet anything to actually bridge the gap.

Off adventuring we go! 

It was bit like Axe Men, and a bit like Fawlty Towers.

There was a very spcific type of log we were looking for.  They needed to be at least 10 metres from the base to the first fork, straight and at least 1.7 m around the girth.  Luckily for us, there was plenty of raw material.

Unlucky for the FB, I was VERY picky about where they could come from. 

Although there are plenty of trees, and some may even say I am being worried to death by Gum Trees, I didn't want to take any from where the view would be affected.

After stalking through the bush, armed with a can of hihg vis spray paint, with me saying "No, not that one."   and "No, not that one", we has selected 6 trees from different parts of the place.

Some had to be 'snigged' several kilomteres from the bottom of #3 paddock, to the crossing, and varying points in between, we were still short 6 logs.

This meant we had to ask the next door neighbour if we could harvest logs from just near the constuction site.  He was ameniable to that.

In actual fact I think his words were "Take the whole f88king lot!".  As it was, 4 of the logs were in the middle of the gazetted road, so everyone was a winner.

Here are some pics:




This is the crossing sans the bridge!  The old pipe is the rusty thing in the background.



These are the awesome trees just near the bridge the FB was not allowed to use


Here is the Axe Man himself - and his dog.


Our fallen comrades - your death was not in vain.

Bridge over the river Condamine

As you may know, we have been sans bridge for a while now.

Although it has been entertaining to have a few quiet glasses of wine and discussion with my brother in law over the best type of bridge to build - we had all had enough of that come September.

Fortunately for me the FB is a Civil Engineer, so bridges, roads and access points are right up his.....er.....alley.

Although we don't have much cash at the moment, we do have machinery and natural resources that still make the bridge and road construction possible.

In case you wish to build a real (and not just a metaphorical) bridge in the near future - here is what you may need.

Ingredients for a bridge

1 x Civil Engineer (with a background in heavy machinery operation, and agricultural production)
1 x D6 Bulldozer (Vintage 1961)
1 x Iseki TU157F Tractor

12 x 10 m + straight trees

Time.

Plenty of Time.

Step 1.

Doing the ground work.

Because the approaches for the previous bridge were still in place, the D6b is used to push them down and prepare for the new bridge foundations.  And here is a picture:


That is the Antique Dozer in the foreground - and the grid.



Both approaches ground work sorted - with a temporary fence up to stop the cows from falling in the river.

Sheesh, I've been busy right?

It's been a while between drinks.

To catch up:

We bought a place in Town, which means that there was a slight cash flow problem for our project.

It also meant that our shedouse is now filled with all the things that won't fit in our (much smaller) Town apartment.  This does lead to some very entertaining shuffling and squeezing past things in the shedouse.

The FB got a new job as well, so he has been away more, and working long hours, so it is a bit mean to expect him to work every weekend as well.

Although there is little to report on the actual structure - there is plenty to report on the surrounding country side.

So to follow:

THE BRIDGE SAGA