Phil's Bailey Bridge Build

[Phil Dawe]

I have made up some wooden Ribands from sapele off cuts to replace the steel ribands supplied in the kit. They need to be trimmed to length and drilled to allow the securing bolts to be installed. Huge thanks to Charles A.Stewart who emailed me a drawing of the original wooden ribands with dimensions.

[Phil Dawe]

Drawing of the original riband courtesy of Charles.A Stewart.

[Steve Lewington]

Hi Phil
The bridge is looking great bud.
Thank you for sharing the riband sizes that will save me a lot of research.
Also abig thanks to Charles for putting it out there for us guys.
Tiny and I have not done much over the past cupel of weeks we're under orders to decorate the house i think there's more paint on Tiny than on the walls.

Best Regards

Tiny and Steve

[Phil Dawe]

I have made a little bit of progress over the last couple of days due to a slight lull in my restoration schedule. Once I get the ribands bolted down temporarily I can get the decking planks trimmed and then remove both for staining and weathering.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Phil

I am enjoying following your build. You are doing a great job with the ribands which add authenticity and I look forward to seeing the end result. My bridge build is on the back burner while I make some progress on the Churchill AVRE, I have also been distracted by a 17 pounder I recently acquired which is proving rather addictive

Regards
Gary

[Phil Dawe]

This afternoon I found time to drill the planking for the riband retaining bolts rather than notching the corners as suggested in the AT instructions. It all went together without any issues. The M3 square washers were found on eBay.

[Phil Dawe]

I have completed the decking and ribands of the first span. The sapele decking has had a coat of ebony wood stain which has weathered the wood down. Now to move onto the second span having learnt the methodology on this one.

[Phil Dawe]

I have now finished assembling the second span. It proved easier to plank than the first as I drilled slightly oversize clearance holes in the planking for the M3 x 40mm hex head retaining bolts. An extra 0-5mm made such a difference. Now to plank the ramps.

[Phil Dawe]

Today, I found time to plank one of the ramps. Fortunately I noticed the ribbons on the ramp only has four securing bolts rather than six before I drilled the holes! The planking is fitted to ensure a good fit and then removed to be trimmed back to the correct length.

[Phil Dawe]

I was able to find time to complete the first ramp today. Its getting too big for my bench!