Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Atv bridge

I am considering purchasing a property next to a river. This property is remote.
Of course I would like to cross an atv to the other side. So I have been contemplating ways to make a cable bridge.
River is approximately 70 yards wide with steep 8ft banks.
Entering river is prohibited.


I have seen several old one lane metal bridges, but realistically they are overkill weight wise and not really long enough without extensive refabrication.

So for the engineers, what diameter of cable could be stretched across with decking over the cables.

Similar to

https://www.loscabosguide.com/loscaboscanyonbridge/

Not a bridge engineer, and never having constructed a cable bridge (but lots of other types of bridges), what you are proposing would be quite an undertaking. Quite an undertaking.

The attachment you had indicates 2” cable, but that project has a higher loading than your single ATV and the span is quite a bit more

Yikes! The link to that bridge you posted is pretty impressive. When I saw this thread title I was thinking something like an ag ditch. For an ATV bridge to span a 70 yard river you have way more faith in your fellow Campfire members than I do to ask random strangers for bridge building advice and cable tensile strength suggestions!

I would think the state or local government will want to be involved with permits and that you’re going to need a structural engineer consultant to sign off on it?

If you know anyone that's a lineman. talk to them about the the cable they use to guy utility poles, they call it strand and it comes in different sizes and has a very high tensile strength and is weather proof.
They also make a bunch of hardware for attaching and anchoring the strand.
Hope this helps.

I know the state guy and he said as long as the bridge was above high water, they would not get involved.
Bridge would not be public use.
The campfire wisdom is often like big stick’s postings. Somewhere inside is a shard of wisdom, often the rest is less helpful.
But it is pretty amazing the diverse backgrounds of this board.
I have also found that no matter what design is suggested, people have improvements to offer..

Is the river a navigatable river? Seems a single line with a ferry might be easier?

This might be the shard of wisdom....
figure a floatinhg dock in conjuntion with a winch on the ATV (and tie downs of course) you could pull off your own cable operated ferry then go with the $500 pedestrian suspension bridge as a back up...

Technically, navigable but after spring it drops to under a foot.
The above suspension is somewhat my thoughts.

Sounds like a fun project but not for the faint of heart.
There are many calculators on the interweb to help you with structural load calculations. The biggest variable will be your anchor points on either side. For example, a 100# load in the center of a 210' span puts many tons of "pull" on the end of your cable. The soil, rock, or whatever on the banks needs to be right. A couple rail ties buried a few feet deep won't touch it.

That's what I was thinking.

so fordable in the summer, but prohibited... what about a floating bridge? or is there a high probability of flood born debris taking it out?

It would be cheaper to buy a 2nd ATV and build a shed for it than a suspension bridge,that would get whiped out by a sawyer nxt big major flood

For another off the cuff unqualified comment,
That's a whopper of a project for a engineer alone let alone the construction process.

I'd have to think a single cable that could handle a cable car capable of carrying an ATV and a couple of people might ring in as more cost effective and require less engineering knowledge.

The bridge you've refrenced was created by a very knowledgeable architect (Enrique Norten). There are so many factors involved it's staggering.

Best of luck, hope your dreams become reality, keep us posted!

Very steep bank 8 ft plus sides and not able to place structure inside high water boundary.

I’ve built a couple as contractor. Both were more than walking bridges. The calculations involved from buckle points to cable strand to wind shear to dirt plus a thousand more were mind boggling. I saw them, thank god I did not have to understand or interpret them, just build to resulting spec.
Your asking about a very involved undertaking. Also don’t forget insurance. If you don’t think anyone else will access your bridge or you can keep them from it your wrong. Those are crazy magnets to people.
Be careful.
Osky

Definitely,
Soil is river bottom silt, concrete would be 100+ miles away.
I do have trackhoe access in neighborhood for deep anchor but an old dozer sunk into ground is probably more anchor.

This is hunting camp area.
The gondola idea was suggested by one of my siblings.

A 210’ span is not trivial. That’s a lot of load on a cable bridge, requiring some pretty substantial abutments, towers, and anchors. Got $50,000 “+ for materials, including concrete bases and footers. You’re talking like 35,000 lb+ end loads.

Now that's "outside-the-box" thinking. Reminds me of the Josie Wales movie. Missouri boat (ATV) ride!

Having worked with "real" bridge engineers, you don't want to get them involved.