The three photos show the new bridge over Cooper Brook (ITS-109, Katahdin Loop) in two different stages of construction. Construction cost was about $11,000.
The bridge that we built in 2001 from reclaimed “boom logs” had just about had it. It wasn’t worth putting anymore repairs into it, so we decided that the time to replace it had arrived.
The 48 ft flatbed trailer over Cooper Brook is in place and ready to be decked over
The first objective was to remove all of the old timbers and decking. Once that was completed, we removed all of the concrete abutments on both sides of the stream. This required that we have an excavator on both sides to do the work. The bases for the abutments were repaired and leveled, and then the abutments were put back in place farther back from the original placements. This was done to accommodate the longer steel beams that the semi-trailer was made from.
Once the abutments were in place, large rocks were placed between them and the stream to act as a buffer during high water situations and to “hide” the concrete from view. When this was finished, the excavator on the north side pulled the trailer across the open expanse of water and the two excavators eventually placed the “trailer” in it’s final resting place.
Side view of the 48 ft flatbed trailer over Cooper Brook is in place and ready to be decked over
We had actually acquired two 42′ steel beams 5 years ago just for this purpose. Alas, when we went to get the beams from where they had been stored, there was a “dispute” as to who actually owned them. It was a fight that we were never going to win, so we found a used 48′ flatbed trailer that would work just fine. The beams would have been “free”, the trailer cost us $2500. Ouch!
Pressure treated 6 x 6’s 16 feet long were used to “deck” the bridge. We then laid down pressure treated 2 x 8’s as the runway for the groomer tracks to run across. Finally, bumpers made from the original 12 x 12″ boom logs were set in placed and attached. Ground work on both ends of the bridge was done to accommodate vehicles in the non-snow months.
Many thanks to Bion Tolman & Son Contractors for the excellent work that they did on the bridge project. Thanks also to Phil Grass, Dave Silvia, Jason Campbell & Rick LeVasseur for all of the volunteer work they performed in two days of cold rain. Ah, such fun being a snowmobile club volunteer!!
Completely rebuilt Snowmobile Bridge over Cooper Brook with Jason, Phil and Dave. Construction cost was about $11,000.