Tag Archives: bridge

Donjek River Bridge, follow up

A few months after Jack helped haul bridge beams to the Donjek River Bridge in Canada, he went back to haul the beams from the staging area off the road onto the ice where they were constructing the bridge. (Best viewed if you click on the first one and scroll to the right.)  See captions for more info.

Two cranes are needed to pick up bridge beams, one on each end, since they will break if they are picked up from the middle. In the construction process they are pre-stressed to take weight from the top and won’t hold up if lifted from the middle.
The old bridge is on the left and the cranes are moving down onto the river.
Jack is down on the frozen river here with the new bridge on the left and what looks to him like concrete joints on the right.
The orange tarp is covering the concrete and keeping the warmth in from heaters so that it will cure.
The 2 cranes are on their way up to the staging area where they will pick up the beams and place them onto the trailers for the trucks to bring them down to the river where the cranes will then pick them back up and place them on the bridge in their correct positions.
They are loaded and following the cranes back down to the river.

The Donjek River Bridge, Canada

Some memories are dictated much by the weather.  Storms, wind, rain, and very often, sun.  Sometimes the sun falls just right, and the breeze is peaceful, and you’re in a good place. It might so happen that it’s 40 below, but some things can’t be helped.

This is my single favorite photo of Jack. It is November 2006.  His face is a little stiff from the cold but the afternoon setting sun shows how much he enjoys this crazy job of taking big things to faraway places.

Jack Jessee

In this case he gets to bring bridge beams to the Donjek River in Yukon Territory, Canada.

Jack JesseeThe old bridge is behind Jack.

Bridge Beam

Jack actually helped haul the bridge beams in the summer and is now (November 2006) back in the winter to pick them up again and bring them down to the crane on the ice.

Bridge Beam

 There are two cranes used to pick up the bridge beam.  The yellow piece that is at the right in the photo above is hanging from the other crane which is behind the person taking the photo (Jack).

Semi-truck

The trucks are awaiting another bridge beam to load.

Semi-truck with trailerThis is the dolly used to haul the bridge beams.

Jack JesseeJack is wearing a face mask, but no gloves!  No figure.

Bridge The arrow is pointing to the bridge beams already placed where they will forever stay.

bridge building

bridge building  Below is a Google Earth image of the Donjek River.  You can see the new bridge and the old road leading up to the river but the old bridge has been dismantled and removed.

Donjek River

Have a great day!

 

Photos from a past hauling job

Here are some miscellaneous photos that Jack took a couple of years back at a marine dock in Valdez.  He was there in May of 2012, hauling items for the railroad bridge that’s now finished (although there aren’t tracks leading to or away from it).

Pipe Hammering Device

The above piece is part of the hammer used to drive pilings into the ground.  For bridge foundations in this case.

Pipe roller

This is used to put pipe on so it can roll while being welded together.

Miscellaneous items in marine yardThese are miscellaneous items  used on the bridge job.

Pipe rollerAnother pipe roller.

Piling Driving DeviceJack says this stands on end and the large circular piece drives down into the hole and onto a piling.

Piling driving deviceThis is the hammer that pounds a piling, Jack thinks it’s for 24 inch pipe.

The large circular device in back should be for the large pipe in the far background.

Miscellaneous marine yard items24 inch pipe in back of some other items.

Marine yard miscellaneous itemsSheet piling (which gets pounded into the ground to create an embankment) and miscellaneous steel items.

Six foot pipe in ValdezSix foot diameter pipe that most people can walk though without bending over.

Six Foot Diameter PipeMore six foot diameter pipe with shipping containers in the background.

I must say this marine yard is a tad more attractive than most, surrounded by beautiful mountains and all!

Have a wonderful day and thanks to those of you who follow this blog and make comments. 🙂

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Deadwood, South Dakota

Jack and I recommend a visit to Deadwood, South Dakota.  Especially if the sun is shining!

This statue is of Wild Bill Hickok, the most famous Old West character associated with Deadwood.

If we remember correctly from reading about the history of Deadwood, this creek at one time flooded the town and is now specially engineered to flow through and under the town.

This is Adams Museum, a beautiful building with 3 levels packed full of interesting items from Deadwood’s past.  Here are some highlights:

And here is another striking statue, this one of a Cowboy on a bucking horse.

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The signs on the main street of Deadwood are really fabulous!

We wish we could have spent time in each of these places.  But we have to say that the Deadwood Social Club Restaurant is terrific…they make their own blue cheese dressing and it is more than worth the walk up those stairs!

We happened upon a darn fine Wild Bill impersonator.

And then ran into a fan of Jack’s, Ed, running the parking garage.

Thanks Deadwood for showing us such a fun time!

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Truck Shots From The Road

Taking photos from the truck is tough, but possible, as we have discovered.

The back of this truck looked quite fabulous reflecting the sunset.

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Driving out of the sunset, surrounded by trucks.

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The trucker didn’t know that this piece of wood was near to falling off the rear of his truck.  It must have worked its way out of the load.  Jack tried to tell him on the radio but wasn’t able to find the right channel and soon we were passed him.

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This dump truck was losing it’s load, spraying gravel all over the road.   (The coffee cups look like they are floating but it’s just the reflection of them sitting on the dash.)

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Trucks pass under these wildlife corridors in Canada with plenty of room to spare.

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And Jack, enjoying the setting sun, driving south.

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Still Hauling Pipe

Here are some photos of the job Jack is presently working on, hauling huge pipe sections from the port of Valdez to Salcha where there is a railroad bridge being built across the Tanana River.

Empty trailers, waiting for the pipe.

This is a photo from an earlier post:  the trucks loaded with 2 lengths of pipe each, and more pipe in the background that still needed to be loaded and hauled to Salcha.  Each section is 6 feet in diameter and 43 feet long.  That stack has been transported by now but more has arrived from other barges.

Eight inch wood dunnage cradling the pipe.  It gives space for the forks to pick it up and set it down, and the pipe chalks (upper wood pieces) stop it from rolling until they get it tied down.  Each piece of pipe is 25,000 pounds.

The trucks have to stop at quite a few roadwork sites along the Richardson Highway.  This is in the canyon just north of Valdez.

A couple of days ago Jack was held up at some roadwork for almost 2 hours.  Since the Richardson is one of only a couple of major highways in Alaska, there  must have been a line of ticked-off tourists 10 miles long!

Anyone interested in more information about this bridge project can go to this link:  State of Alaska webpage.

Hauling Pipe from Valdez to Salcha

This month Jack has been hauling huge pipe sections to Salcha, a small community about 35 miles from Fairbanks.  The State of Alaska is building a railroad bridge across the Tanana River in Salcha and these pieces are probably going to be standing supports with concrete poured inside.  Each driver manages to haul two sections a day, you can see them loaded here.  In back of the trucks and in front of the shipping containers there are stacks of more pipe that need to be hauled to Salcha, so Jack won’t be off this project for a while to come.  Yes, work means a paycheck, but ending up with one a a half days off a week is hard when you’ve got a home you want to take care of, and knowing there are only 3 months of summer in Fairbanks.


We’ll post more about this trip soon, so stay tuned and click “follow” if you are interested in getting an email each time a post is made here.