Bridge Welders

By cwf07

Date 01-23-2011 01:28

That's Ga. for you. I welded some for the railroad we bevel then and put 3 plates on them. Who did you weld them for.

Attachment: IMG_0811.JPG (119k)

Attachment: IMG_0813-1.JPG (144k)

By strother (***)

Date 01-23-2011 02:02

Scott bridge . They told me " You're welder weld them however you want to ,but this how we usually do it " . I 'm not complaining . They were pretty good to work for . Just wondering if thats how it's usually done . Where were the pics taken?

By cwf07

Date 01-24-2011 00:21

Were was the job with Scott's. The pictures was on a job with Rogers Bridge Company in Covington on I 20. That the way the state said splice them I been doing it since 1996. I think they need beveled.

By strother (***)

Date 01-24-2011 01:01 Edited 01-24-2011 01:31

It was in Columbus on Fort Benning. We spliced them just like the pictures you posted. Do cut your own splice plates or do they already have them cut for you? They already had them cut on this job and they were RAGGED. I wish they had let me cut my own. It would made welding them a little easier.

By cwf07

Date 01-24-2011 01:56

Some company buy stamp plate they are nice.But some company are to cheap they want the lowest paid labor that has never seen a cutting torch to cut them. They told me I made to much to cut and grind. They also told me a good welder can weld a gap. I told them a good welder don't have to weld gaps because he can cut it to fit. Bridge Company don't care how good you can weld but how fast can you weld them.

By Iron Head 49 (***)

Date 01-23-2011 17:20

I've never seen anything like what you guys have pictured!
Here is how I've always done it.

By Rig Hand (***)

Date 01-24-2011 16:28 Edited 01-24-2011 16:36

I'm a little surprised its T-11 wire with unlimited thickness? But, my knowledge of innershield is about [ ] that much :)

Nice open root 7018, by the way.

By Iron Head 49 (***)

Date 01-24-2011 17:13

Did you notice the date at the bottom of the page? Back then you could BS your way through with the powers to be, not now a days though! Everybody is more educated now.

By SMTatham (**)

Date 01-23-2011 23:05

I've done a buttload of H pile splices.............all full penetration welds. Backgouging to get 100% The splice plates shown.......I just don't know..............these were for bearing pile???

By cwf07

Date 01-24-2011 00:25

These are all bearing pile. I splice some 14" H-pile about 2 years ago that was going 350ft in the ground before they got bearing.

By Iron Head 49 (***)

Date 01-24-2011 01:37

350 feet! Sounds like a soils engineer had his head up his azz!
Did you just continuously drive, or let the H-pile set over night and do a re-strike 24 hours later to see if the skin friction would set up the pile?
H-pile are not the best option for bearing, they are great for up lift. A lot of times you'll see 15 feet of H-pile welded to bottom of a pipe pile with a boot plate welded to the bottom of the pipe. Pipe pile, with boot plate is for bearing, H-pile is for up lift.

By cwf07

Date 01-24-2011 01:45

No they did not set over night. The company kept driving till the D.O.T told them to stop.

By Iron Head 49 (***)

Date 01-24-2011 01:53

The company had to have been paid by the foot driven! Nobody drives H-pile like that, everybody knows they need time to set up.

By cwf07

Date 01-24-2011 01:59 Edited 01-24-2011 02:01

Yep they were getting paid by the ft. they were supposed to take up about 50 ft. And the inpector on the job that was checking the pipe he didn't care if they went 5' or 5,000ft.

By Iron Head 49 (***)

Date 01-24-2011 09:58

That makes no sense at all! But then again it was a DOT job, our tax dollars at work!

Sometimes with H-pile you'll let them set a week, come back and re-strike them, but only drive them 1 inch. Count the blows for that inch x 12 gives the blows per foot. Once you break the skin friction God only knows where they'll stop. If that company was truly a Pile Driving company they knew this, sounds like they were lining their pockets!
They weren't using a vibratory hammer were they?

By cwf07

Date 01-25-2011 02:00

They were a bridge company, and you are right it didn't make no sence. I am just thankful I get to do some DOT work to make some of my tax money back.

By Robert48 (**)

Date 01-27-2011 02:54

In GA the company driving the pilings have no control over when to stop. Only the engineers can make that call. I agree about the friction bearing but try to explain that to an engineer that designed a bridge with 15 piling drove to 100 tons each to hold up a golf cart. We make money when we drive piles that go fast and sudenley stop. When we beat and beat on a pile just to have to stop and splice again and again it takes so much time not to mention the abuse on the hammer that the money is just not worth it. I agree with you a hundred percent though. If the hammer takes a while to break the friction a momentary load on a bridge is not going to.

By cwf07

Date 01-23-2011 01:51

They are the splice plate. You stand another pile on top of them and weld the 2 together.

Attachment: IMG_0803.JPG (0B)

By 803056

Date 01-23-2011 18:42

I got a call from a contractor a few years ago that was in deep do-do.

They were driving pipe piles on the order of 100 to 120 feet long. The third party inspector didn't care for what he saw and called in the state's inspector. They called for UT to check the butt joints between the lengths of 12 inch pipe (it could have been 14 inch, I can't remember). Long story short, the welds were essentially one or two passes around the pipe with little to no bevel.

The contractor called me in to help him qualify the welding procedure and the welders. My task was to witness the welding and do the paperwork. They were the experts, so they selected the welding process, electrode, etc. A little research revealed the pipe was "out of spec." line pipe. All I could do is get the chemistry with no mechanicals. The chemistry was similar to a 4140. We welded the pipe in the horizontal position using a CJP butt joint with a 45 bevel and 1/4 root opening. It took the full day to weld the joint versus the 1-hour the contractor expected. I did convince the welders that preheat was really needed, but they fought using it and skimped on the maintenance of interpass temperature. I just recorded what they did.

Wimper, tears, wimper some more, the contractor was crying he would loose his shirt if it took his welders a full day per joint. And preheat? "They never had to preheat before!"

I predicted the material was hardenable and it wasn't the best choice for the application. The contractor said it met the piling spec. which only specified a minimum tensile strength. This pipe had twice the tensile strength, but the ductility and toughness was in the basement.

The contractor said they use miles of this material because it is "strong" and "cheap." Cheap is the key word here. The pipe mill essentially sold the out of spec pipe for scrap steel prices.

I told him he would be better off if he ordered A53 pipe that had good weldability. "Are you crazy! Do you know how much that would cost me?" he wimpered.

The fun came when the impact tests came back with single digit values. To say the contractor and the state were unhappy campers would be an understatement. I reminded him that he told me he didn't need any advice from me. Of course his position was that they never had this problem before. I told him that was only because he never tried to qualify the procedure before. What happen once I did my song and dance? I have no idea. I sent his invoice to the collection company and let them take care of the SOB. I moved on to better things.

You cannot cure stupid.

Best regards - Al

By cwf07

Date 01-25-2011 02:04

You weld everything the plates don't cover up. And around the plates.

By Robert48 (**)

Date 01-26-2011 00:24

I have been at Fort Benning all day splicing. If you are actually on the base there are people lined up to tell you how they want them spliced. I had to get a detail faxed out of the GADOT spec manual today before I could start. I will post that page, and some close up pics tommorow.

By cwf07

Date 01-26-2011 01:34

Yall got a job going on there now, how did the ringers work out.

By Robert48 (**)

Date 01-28-2011 01:44

Yeah. It is a pain in the ass. I started welding this morning at 8 and finished at 4:30. I only got four 14" spliced and they are perfect. I mean every plate ground on both sides, all mill scale removed in the weld area, no arc marks, and every weld on the splice checked with a fillet gauge. The prime contractor has hired a CWI just for the splices. I mean the only reponsibility he has is me. He looks at the plates after I cut them, looks again after I tack them, and finaly after I finish. I think I set the bar too high for myself though. I welded the first one and he said they were some of the best he has seen. So that kind of obligated me to keep up the tedious work all the way through. So I realy don't know what he would let slide. So far all I had to fix was a very little undercut on a plate. Not that this upsets me because if this had to be done every where they would be only a few of us in the state doing it and that means more money. We even have to grind the tops of the piling after they are cut off to grade to be covered with concrete. So if you get called to a job in there be prepared for anything.

By strother (***)

Date 01-26-2011 02:14

I was on the base in December . Corp of Engineer was there testing the outside piles. They were supposed to have a welding inspector there but I never saw them.