Burr Arch King Post Bridge: Building Tennessee's only Burr Arch Bridge at The Farm at Tralee Part II
As part of the Burr Arch Bridge journal, I bring you the second part of Jeremy Barlow's experience with the Burr Arch King Post Bridge at The Farm at Tralee:
On January the fifteenth I began my employment with Mr. Smiddy to build the bridge. I made my office at a table in the Blount county library. My mind was finally able to eject some of what was built up in it over that last six months. I was actually putting on paper a bridge all my own, well, and Mr. Smiddy’s.
For two days I brain stormed and drew, brain stormed and drew. After two and a half days I was finished with the main body of drawings minus details.
I started work at the Jobsite on January the Eighteenth where Paul had his men already preparing the site. Mr. Mike Duncan was to be the Lead Carpenter on the Bridge Abutment formwork with Mr. Ronnie Duncan and soon to follow, Mr. Adam Griffith, as the rest of the carpentry crew.
We poured footers on Thursday, January the 25th. I ordered a pump truck to reach the far footer and we poured 32 yard of concrete, 4000lb. Pump mix. The pump truck was two hours late but all in all things went well.
The material for the abutment formwork was delivered to the site and rebar was ordered and to be delivered the following Monday. On Friday, the Abutment walls were in full swing. I had taken many of the antique blueprints and formed a design of my own incorporating accumulated data from different bridges. After three times, I was comfortable with the final drawing for the abutments.
Mike and Ronnie worked on the abutment false work about three weeks with the help of some others here and there. The excitement of the Pier Pour day was finally peaked on Saturday, February the tenth.
The morning was fridged, with a temperature of 12 degrees. This time I used a conveyor truck since the pump truck was very unpredictable with it’s slump consistency. The concrete arrived at 7:45 A.M. and we were pumping by 8:15. The water on the truck kept freezing, but none the less we continued on till 29 yard had been poured and then we waited. Apparently the batch plant also was dealing with quite the soap opera. The cold had frozen, well, I won’t try to act like I know exactly what froze up, but something important froze and our concrete was almost 2 and a half hours out. Sadly to say, we were on our last four yards of concrete at this point. When the time was around 1:30 P.M. we were cleaning up and heading home. What a relief to finally get the Abutments poured and near ready to receive my timbers. I would like to give Mike and Ronnie a “job well done” with those forms. I didn’t hear a snap, crack, or pop one time during the pour and their forms held up like castle walls. They did a terrific job!
