Good morning:

Have a close friend who wants to put a walking bridge across a dry creek.

Currently the idea is laying down three telphone poles and putting boards across it in the normal fashion.

Guessing the bridge would span thirty feet or so "shore to shore".

Two questions -
Where can telephone poles be purchased in the San Antonio area?

Has anyone done anything like this and have any suggestions or input?

cross posted on the home improvement board as well.

TIA
SA Ag 91

Most cost effective way is to go to a electric coop and get on list for replacement poles.

But some could be a couple weeks on the list up to a year or two.

McCoy's can order them for you if they do not have them stocked. Some locations do stock them

One thing to think about is that actual telephone poles are nasty. They're soaked in all kinds of hooch including creosote.

I definitely wouldn't want to work with those and I'd be wary of laying them on the ground and over a creek.

Just something to think about it.

fightingfarmer09 said:

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Most cost effective way is to go to a electric coop and get on list for replacement poles.

But some could be a couple weeks on the list up to a year or two.

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They are replacing poles out by my place. I have a grapple on my tractor. You bring a trailer I can get you on the top of that list.

Might need to do this at midnight though.

BrazosDog02 said:

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Might need to do this at midnight though.

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I would think that some type of barrier to erosion would have to placed at each bank to prevent water from washing away the dirt supporting the poles. Maybe a mix of large and small rocks.

Is it eroding now?

I don't think they use creosote or other certain preservatives anymore. Mostly they infuse a copper based solution due to environmental regulation. I still see some dark new poles, but most are green ones these days.

I'd say two are fine unless you are marching a large number of people over it at once.

Plenty of fresh creosote treated utility poles in our area. The ones not creosote are typically concrete/fiber type.

I would call a place like Industrial Matt Co and talk to them about buying a used timber mat - they come in 10', 15', 20' 30' and 40' lengths, are made from 14" x 14" solid oak rough cuts that are held together with something like a 1'1/4" through bolt. I believe they are 6' wide (may be 4', can't remember). All you would need to do is rent a crane or have the proper equipment to pick and set it and you are done.

But as mentioned - It's not as easy as just tossing a few poles or a mat across the creek. It will work for a while, but the buttresses on each bank are critical to longevity, as is clearance. Creek may be dry now, but what is it like during a flood event? 1 good sized tree trunk and any bridge can be downstream before you know it.

30 feet sounds like a big creek. I'd assume it occasionally has some significant water flow to get that big.

Could they pour concrete and make a walkway across the bed of the creek instead? That might last longer.

Not my Creek.

There was one like this in my neighborhood until a flood washed it away. Connected a park to neighborhood so it could handle foot traffic fine. May or may not have taken a motorcycle across it. Span was about 50 feet. It think it was telephone poles, but not 100% sure.

BrazosDog02 said:

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fightingfarmer09 said:

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Most cost effective way is to go to a electric coop and get on list for replacement poles.

But some could be a couple weeks on the list up to a year or two.

---

They are replacing poles out by my place. I have a grapple on my tractor. You bring a trailer I can get you on the top of that list.

Might need to do this at midnight though.

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When I had poles replaced at my place I had them leave them for me. They were happy to. It was JPL I think.

Telephone poles are still creosote.

Longer timbers uses for human/animal contact (fencing, raised homes on wood piers, etc) are CCA pressure treated. These are the green ones.

I agree you wouldn't want to use creosote for this application.

CNP in Houston went back creosote poles several years ago.