Well they got a crane in and got the grain cart out of the creek. Surprisingly it is not damaged too much. It can be used like it is. Just the top on the back was damaged. The tractor is a different story. They did break the transmission housing/case. It is a CIH MX305. I think they are going to rent a tractor for the rest of season.
As far as the bridge they got kind of lucky there as well. The main steel beams are usable. The county had the crane guy set the old bridge out on the ground for them to look/work on it. The wooden floor/planks are shot. The cross supports are twisted. The concrete abutments are OK.
The current plan is to reset the steel beams back on the old abutments. Then weld new steel cross bracing. Then they have a precast concrete top slab coming that should be here Thursday. The county engineer says that the bridge will not have any restrictions on it after this.
As for the cost. The plan I am hearing is for the land owner, the BTO(or his insurance), the renter (young kid & maybe his farm liability) and the county splitting the cost is some manner on the repair.
They had the crane guy set a grain auger across the creek today. Then they set the auger up across the creek. So they could dump one grain cart into the auger and fill another on the road side of the creek. They where able to finish the corn on the farm.
The BTO had another combine so they are going to just harvest with the single machine until the bridge is redone. The county is thinking they can have it back together by the weekend.
This is what my son told me this evening. I ended up being out in the semi truck last night. Long line at the feed plant took too long to get the feed load. So I did not get home until supper time today.
There maybe a silver lining in this after all. My youngest son passed his welding test a few weeks ago. The county has a local steel fabricator doing the steelwork on the bridge. My son got a job helping weld the cross supports back to the main beams. He starts in the morning. He is taking my portable welder. The contractor thinks they will be working 12 hour days Wed and Thur. He will make much more doing this than his normal low wage job. They are real slow now at his normal job anyway. Maybe he can get on with the fabricator. He needs a better job and to get out in the world a little more to see what he really wants out of life.
As far as the bridge they got kind of lucky there as well. The main steel beams are usable. The county had the crane guy set the old bridge out on the ground for them to look/work on it. The wooden floor/planks are shot. The cross supports are twisted. The concrete abutments are OK.
The current plan is to reset the steel beams back on the old abutments. Then weld new steel cross bracing. Then they have a precast concrete top slab coming that should be here Thursday. The county engineer says that the bridge will not have any restrictions on it after this.
As for the cost. The plan I am hearing is for the land owner, the BTO(or his insurance), the renter (young kid & maybe his farm liability) and the county splitting the cost is some manner on the repair.
They had the crane guy set a grain auger across the creek today. Then they set the auger up across the creek. So they could dump one grain cart into the auger and fill another on the road side of the creek. They where able to finish the corn on the farm.
The BTO had another combine so they are going to just harvest with the single machine until the bridge is redone. The county is thinking they can have it back together by the weekend.
This is what my son told me this evening. I ended up being out in the semi truck last night. Long line at the feed plant took too long to get the feed load. So I did not get home until supper time today.
There maybe a silver lining in this after all. My youngest son passed his welding test a few weeks ago. The county has a local steel fabricator doing the steelwork on the bridge. My son got a job helping weld the cross supports back to the main beams. He starts in the morning. He is taking my portable welder. The contractor thinks they will be working 12 hour days Wed and Thur. He will make much more doing this than his normal low wage job. They are real slow now at his normal job anyway. Maybe he can get on with the fabricator. He needs a better job and to get out in the world a little more to see what he really wants out of life.
