More crosshead replacement today, this time on pier 8.

It was all done in largely the same style as on Tuesday, however improved by the use of a spreader bar above the bridge, rather than just chains.

There’s very little to go, with just 4 bolts to drill and install tomorrow.

However, given tomorrow’s hot forecast, it’ll be very much a finished by lunch affair, if not sooner. Meeting at Maldon at 7.45am to collect up the tools for the job, then down to the bridge site around 8.15am.

Today was our first ever crack at installing a steel crosshead. And on the whole, it’s simpler than timber, with a lot less stuffing about required.

We had previously predrilled the steelwork and that made the task extremely simple.

As they were significantly bigger than the existing timber crossheads, new pile shoulders needed to be cut, that is a little fiddly, however a small inconvenience for something that then went together with no hassles.

We forgot to get a picture of the finished product all bolted up, however at a glance it doesn’t look overly different to the timber, and a closer look does make it look like a very impressive lump of bridge.

Although there are plenty of examples of this in use in other locations, it’s a first for us and as such this is a trial so we can evaluate the effectiveness, issues associated and ongoing maintenance obligations. We’ll be doing two other sets of crossheads in the same fashion this year, which will give us an excellent scope to determine the suitability of this method.

This, as with all things timber these days, is us exploring alternatives, given the extreme price and low availability of suitable timber, it’s only initiatives such as these that will see us in a position to maintain these bridges going forward, we’re quietly confident this will be a success.

On a side note, Will’s taking some time off for a minor surgery of a shoulder injury, so the communication may be a little hap-hazard for the next few weeks. Please bear with us!

However, the plan is still very much workdays at Muckleford Creek Bridge every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, meeting there from 8.30am. A few extra drivers might be needed to bring both trucks out from Maldon on Fridays however, any help there will be greatly appreciated.

The past two days, we’ve been in bridge repair mode, with the failing wailers on pile 27L replaced yesterday, with lots of anti fungal treatment.

Today saw us re-install the bolts and pack pile 27R to remove a slight dip in the bridge. We’ve now got a spectacular hump in the track, which we’ll quite easily be able to rectify by lifting the track a distance either side (we’d purposely not lifted this too much previously to allow for this).

As the temperature rose and the sun began to scorch, we decided an easier job would be to prepare a set of steel crossheads, by whipping out the magnetic drill and predrilling the pile bolts holes. As yet it’s too hard to predict the location of the angle bolts (as we’ll reuse the old bolt holes), but we can do that in place comparitively easily. We’ve also marked up the pile shoulders for cutting to allow for the taller crossheads.

Tuesday should see us make a significant start on getting this set of steel crossheads installed. Meeting at Maldon at 7.45am or out on site around 8.15am.

Well we’ve begun our bridge work for 2023, with our first task being the digging out of the settled pile by the down end of Muckleford Creek Bridge.

The issue was found to quite simply be the wailers at the base of the pile had failed, however the pile is in excellent condition and the sill is still quite serviceable. We did discover this appears to be due to fungal attack, another enemy of timber bridges!

As such, Thursday’s task will be to remove the pile and old sill, renew the wailers and sill, with suitable fungal treatment, to prevent a recurrence. It was nice to see, however, no evidence at all of termite activity.

Thursday’s gang will meet at Maldon at 8am then out on site at Muckleford Creek Bridge from 8.15am.