Pour concrete into your holes, but don’t just dump it in like you’re baking a lumpy cake. Use a tube form—a cardboard cylinder—to keep the concrete column straight. Place a metal post anchor in the wet concrete, level it, and wait 24 hours. Yes, 24 hours. That concrete needs its beauty sleep.
How To Bridge Over A Sewer Pipe (step-by-step Guide) | TAFT Independent
Fun fact: Ancient Romans used concrete without reinforcement, and some of their bridges still stand. Yours will probably hold up a garden gnome, but aim higher. Gnocchi. Anyway, patience pays off—rushing this step is like putting a bandage on a broken leg.
The Bridge Deck: Wood vs. Composite
Now you need something to walk on. Treated lumber is cheap, but it warps and rots like a forgotten banana. Composite decking is pricier but laughs at rain and termites. Pick your poison, but always use galvanized screws—regular screws rust faster than a politician’s promises.
Cut two support beams to span between your concrete posts. They should sit on top of the metal anchors, not touching the pipe below. The pipe should have a full inch of air gap under your bridge. That gap is your insurance policy: no crushing, no rubbing, no midnight phone calls to a plumber.
