Family Moves Bridge To Connect Their Properties

Family Moves Bridge To Connect Their Properties BUILDINGS Miscellaneous Wyoming ranchers Keith and Laura Galloway and their son Ethan have adjoining property Unfortunately it’s across a 70-ft wide creek with high banks and no connecting road Ethan says that dilemma turns what should be a 2-min trip into a 5-mile drive several times a day through the town of Ten Sleep The trip’s been made with pickups farm machinery and trucks hauling hay or silage Cattle going from one property to the other have been herded down the roads and right through town interrupting traffic for locals      Laura Galloway says they looked at several ways to connect the property including using old flatbed rail cars to make a bridge She says it would’ve required two cars and new decking to support heavy loads a project that would’ve been very costly     In the winter of 2023 they happened onto another solution when Laura saw an ad in the local paper for a 100-year-old bridge for sale by a nearby county The Galloway men went to look at it and decided it would work well Their bid of $1 100 was accepted with the understanding they needed to move the structure by the end of May     Laura says it’s not every day a ranch family needs to find someone to move a 40-ton bridge that’s 25 ft wide and 60 ft long Eventually they located Danny Bertsch of Swing Trucking in Worland Wyo a heavy equipment company with 75 years of experience Danny took one look at the bridge and said they could do the job They used a huge crane to lift the 40-ton structure onto a large flatbed truck then used a powerful semi-tractor three pilot cars and a lot of flashing lights to haul it 40 miles through the town of Ten Sleep to the ranch     During the summer the Galloways installed concrete footings into both sides of the creek bank to support both ends of the bridge Bertsch returned to lift the bridge in place The Galloways replaced the crumbling concrete on the bridge with new decking to provide a smooth and strong surface to support machinery trucks and livestock     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Galloway Ranch 201 Road 47 Ten Sleep Wyo 82442

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