Process

Paragon Bridge Works has a large and varied client base so a single process that covers every client and every situation would be impossible. The following process was created with the private land owner or contractor in mind.

1. Site Selection
2. Bridge requirements
3. Permits & Engineering
4. Ordering
5. Construction

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1. Site Selection

This is often one of the more exciting times as there are a lot of mixed emotions going on and different idea of what the bridge will look like and how different your site will look with a bridge in place (or replaced). As always, Paragon would be happy to make a site visit at any time. Here are a few points to consider when starting this process:

1.1 Stay focused on the task at hand. Try not to get overwhelmed with all the variables and the "if's, and's, & but's". Everything will fall into place in time, all you are trying to do right now is pick a bridge site and maybe a few alternate bridge sites.

1.2 Bridge length: Paragon offers several standard bridge lengths, including 20', 40', 55', 60', and 89'. There are pro's and con's with each bridge span but the common denominator is that the longer than span, the more the bridge span it is going to cost. However, the further away from the waterway the easier it is to install and the easier it will be to obtain any needed permits. Try to find an area where the banks are closest.

1.3 Bank elevations: Another consideration is the elevation of both banks. You want your banks to be the highest possible so that your bridge sits up off the waterway with at least 2' of "free board" space or 2' of clear space in between the bottom of the bridge and the top of the water. Low banks will require us to build a bigger abutment in order to get the necessary freeboard. This would also require more dirt work to build the approaches/ramps to the bridge.

1.4 Bank slopes: Picking the site with the best slope could save you a considerable amount of time and money as we need to protect the abutments. The bottom of the abutments is a critical element and we need to keep them from being undercut or washed out. Banks with vertical slopes will require us to dig your abutments down to below the waterway which might require a larger abutment package or will require that we build the abutments further back which would require a longer bridge span.

1.5 Road alignment: This is critical for vehicular bridges as you do not want a vehicle to make a sharp turn onto the bridge. This is compounded if vehicles with trailers are going to be using the bridge. We may be able to place the bridge at an angle to help with this issue but it is usually best to try and build the bridge perfectly perpendicular to the waterway.

1.6 Landscaping: We always try to avoid removing healthy trees and work around existing mature landscaping. Mature trees may also provide a nice canopy over your bridge. Tree roots may be a concern.

1.7 Visual appeal: Try to imagine driving over your bridge. What would catch your eye? What do you want people to notice? What do you want people not to notice? Sometimes this element trumps most other things to consider as "million dollar views" may cost a little extra to achieve.

1.8 Soils: The proper name for dirt is soils. We want to build on stable soil. As a general rule of thumb, you may want to see how far you can dig down with your bare hands. If you can easily dig down more than 6 inches then we may have some concerns. We may also have concerns if there are very large, Volkswagen sizes, boulders. Either situation can be overcome but may add some expense in design and/or construction. Freshly dumped soils will need to be properly compacted. "Fill dirt" is generally not considered stable enough to build on. Building in wetlands or swampy areas should be avoided.

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2 Minimum requirements:

So now you kind of know where you want the bridge and may have some alternate bridge sites. The next phase, based on your notes from above, is to determine what minimum requirements you need to address and maybe some things you would like the bridge to have such as:

2.1 Bridge length: This is always where we start the conversation. In general, we need about 1 1/2 feet of bridge bearing surface per abutment. For example, our 40' bridge span can actually clear span about 37'. What bridge length do you think would work for you?

2.2 Bridge width: This may be mandated by the city, county or fire department. Each Paragon bridge span comes in 8 to 10 1/2 feet wide. Multiple bridge spans can be placed side by side in order to achieve any desired bridge width. Keep in mind that some of the deck space may be used up by guardrails (depending on which options you choose to accompany the guardrails such as a stone facade). You may have your own width needs as well based on what type of equipment you plan on moving across the bridge. Talk to everybody involved that may end up using the bridge to see if they have any special requirements. Pedestrian bridges usually utilize a single bridge span. Private driveways to a single family dwelling may also get away with a single bridge span. Multi-family developments, public driveways, and commercial/industrial applications usually utilize 2 or 3 bridge spans side by side. A single bridge span may be extended to 14' with certain limitations. Contact your Paragon representative for more details.

2.3 Guardrails: Who do you need to protect? Is there a chance that a pedestrian may fall off your bridge and get hurt? Is there a chance that a vehicle may lose control? Will there be both pedestrians and vehicles? There are 3 basic guardrail variations: pedestrian only, vehicular only, and a combination of the two. The pedestrian guardrail will not deflect traffic while the vehicular guardrail will not properly confine small children. Your options include: Having Paragon design and build your guardrails. Having Paragon design your guardrails and somebody else build them for you. Design and build your own guardrails. And, obviously, Paragon can not force you to build any guardrails whatsoever. Materials used to construct guardrails consists of wood, steel, and a combination of wood and steel. Paragon also utilizes reconditioned galvanized and Corten W-beams.

2.4 Decking: What kind of deck do you want? What "effect" are you trying to achieve? Is low maintenance your biggest concern? Is cost your biggest concern? We have found that wood is by far the best bang for the buck which is why we offer several wooden deck options. You may want to consider using a steel deck if very heavy equipment will be crossing the bridge. Douglas Fir is usually the best choice for most vehicular traffic up to 80,000 lbs. Paragon's premium brown pressure treated boards are an excellent choice for pedestrian use. Take a look at our prices page for more details. Concrete decks would need to be poured after the bridge in set in place. Asphalt is also an option.

2.5 Facades: This may or may not be a consideration depending on where your bridge will be installed and who will be seeing the bridge (if anybody except the frogs). At a minimum, it is good to at least consider having Paragon paint your bridge span with any color you choose. Paragon is flexible and willing to learn more about your specific situation and coming up with customized solutions. We want your bridge to fit your application.

2.6 Load rating: While a Paragon bridge span can handle loads upwards of 200,000 lbs, you want to consider what will be going over your bridge. This is important as your decking and abutment options will become more limited...and usually cost more.

A common statement Paragon hears is that the client only needs a 10,000 lb "normal" or daily weight limit with an occasional 40,000 lb load but they might order a fully loaded cement truck as well. Cement trucks can weigh around 80,000 lbs. Federal bridge rules do not allow for this type of variation in designing a maximum load and it may not be cost effective to design for 80,000 lbs. Instead, we recommend that we design the bridge to 40,000 lbs and only order cement trucks to be filled to not exceed 40,000 lbs. It may take twice as many truck loads of cement but it may be worth the cost savings.

The most common loads include:

2.6.1 Pedestrian only: While the load rating is insignificant we do want to narrow your decking options as we want to make sure the deck boards over the walking lanes are placed perpendicular to the bridge span and not parallel. Any type of wood option will work including Douglas Fir, premium brown pressure treated boards, and composite.

2.6.2 Vehicular only: under 20,000 lbs: Same as as "Pedestrian only" except the composite decking option is no longer available and the deck boards can be placed parallel or perpendicular to bridge span. Anything under 20,000 lbs is considered light weight.

2.6.3 Vehicular only: 20,000 - 80,000 lbs: Douglas Fir is the most cost effective option for this weight rating. Concrete or steel are also a choice but are considerably more expensive. This is considered normal weight.

2.6.4 Vehicular only: 80,000 lbs and more: Steel decking or extra thick Douglas Fir is usually the best option. This is usually used by heavy construction vehicles. This is considered heavy duty weight.

2.6.5 Combination pedestrian & vehicular: Paragon offers several decking options that meets a broad range of budgets and visual appeals.

2.7 Abutments: While Paragon's pre-cast abutment blocks are generally an excellent value you might want to consider building your own abutments. You can either have Paragon design your abutments or have somebody else do it. Things to consider include frost depth, minimum freeboard, and preventing abutments from being washed out.

2.8 Wing walls/retaining walls: You may also want to consider how you plan on retaining soils beyond the abutments. Paragon does offer pre-cast blocks specifically designed for this purpose or you can come up with something yourself. Just make sure you take that into consideration.

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3.0 Permits and Engineering:

This is probably where most projects take a unique turn. You basically need to find out who owns the water in the waterway. Paragon recommends you start with your city or county. The following are statements that the city/county may be listening for:

• Are you going to change the flow of water? We hope you are not as that would cause lots of concerns.
• Are you going to be working in the waterway? We hope you are able to build the abutments and set the bridge without working in the waterway which may require additional permits.
• Are you going to build anything in the waterway? The best answer is NO but you may need to on longer spans.

You would then ask them if they have any minimum requirements and if there are any permits needed. We have found that about half of all projects do not require permits as most areas do not issue bridge permits.

When is engineering needed? There are several types of engineers that may need to get involved depending on the scope of your project. From a legal standpoint, Paragon is required to advise all clients that engineers are always recommended. From our practical experience, this is what you should keep in mind (as a minimum):

• Site Civil Engineer: Having this engineer is recommended if the bridge is only a small part of a larger project. It is also recommended if the above steps appear to be beyond your comfort level. Cost for this engineer depends on their scope of work as well as location of the site. A ball park number to use would range from $5,000 on smaller jobs to $20,000 on larger jobs that includes a lot more than just the bridge.
• Soils Engineer: It is especially critical that you know what your soils consist of if you plan on doing any other building at your site. Might as well get the building site tested when testing the bridge site. It is also a good idea to have soils information if your desired load is greater than 40,000 lbs or if the bridge will be open to the public. Paragon makes certain assumptions about your soils. If your soils do not meet our minimum assumptions then you could have your abutments settle and the bridge may sink. Differential settlement can also cause abutment to become unstable. Ball park price for a soils analysis is $1500 to $3000. It might also save you money if we find out that our assumptions are too conservative...which they generally can be.
• Hydraulic Engineer: This engineer is seldom used but would be able to give us more information about the flow of the water which would be needed if we are building center piers or intermediate piers in the waterway. Prices vary greatly.
• Structural Engineer: This is the only engineer that Paragon utilizes on a daily bases. They focus just on the bridge structure and the abutments and distribute the weight of the vehicle and the weight of the bridge over your soils, usually based on certain assumptions unless the above engineers are also utilized. Clients are welcome to hire their own engineer and are not required to use ours. Just keep in mind that our enigneers have been doing this for many years. Our engineering fees are typically set lump sum prices. Paragon usually loses money on engineering a new or unkown railcar style but we feel we can make that lose up in the long run.You would be hard pressed to find a structural engineer at a better value than one of Paragon's engineers. Some engineers might quote you a low hourly rate but the amount of time it will take them to get to where we are at will cost you.

Gather as much information as possible, keep track of who you talk to and what they said. They might use words or phrases you may not understand but we can help you with that. Next step is to give Paragon a call to get some prices.

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4 Ordering your bridge

By now you should know a lot more about bridge building than most people ever will. This is a good time to give Paragon a call and discuss your project with us. Let us know as much as you care to. The more we know the better we can create an estimate to best match to your project.

Once we know about your project our people are typically able to generate an estimate within half a working day. In general, we generate two estimates, one being a "bare bones" estimate with just the essentials and a second estimate we call the options estimate. You can see samples of these estimates by visiting our PRICES page.

Paragon has several payment plans, installation options, and warranties available.

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5 Construction

All of Paragon's bridge spans are designed to install quickly and easily. There are several installation options for you to consider. You can expect Paragon to have your bridge built in as little as 4 weeks from the time you order your bridge. In some cases clients who placed their order are driving over their new bridge in as little as 24 hours! Yes, 24 hours!!! We have pre-cast blocks in stock and several bridge spans in stock. There are several factors that control completion dates such as permits, soil testing, custom engineering, weather, and other general items beyond Paragon's control.

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Paragon Bridge Works is here for you! We keep it simple with easy to understand bridge products and people with a desire to know your project fully. Everything that Paragon does is centered around our clients.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!