Cleaning out a culvert?

[CalG]

Can you fish a rope thru there to pull a chain or cable thru? Hook it too a tire and start pulling

Brett

Thrity three feet is a long way to push a rope.

Might get a chain to though, it's all up hill

;-)

A tire through a 12 inch steel culvert? A camel through the eye of a needle /....

 

[CalG]

Sewer waterjet systems will flush it out. Call your local plumber.

Dave

I don't want to have someone else do it. Heck, that's no fun!

 

[rustyshakelford]

Thrity three feet is a long way to push a rope.

Might get a chain to though, it's all up hill

;-)

A tire through a 12 inch steel culvert? A camel through the eye of a needle /....

PVC would help. Don't use a big truck tire! They make other sizes I'm told

Brett

 

[CalG]

I saw your post and posted the above info. I had found................my inlaws have a ~10 acre lake............it has a 36" diameter standpipe that goes 14 feet down vertical then ties into a ~20 inch horizontal pipe that runs about 140 feet through the dam...........and it's clogged and the lake is 4 feet above normal pool.............we rented a 3 gpm 3500 pressure washer with a turbo nozzle and tried using that to fluff out the debris........then we rented a big portable air compressor and used it in combo with 17+ feet of 3/4" schedule 40 blk. iron pipe and pumped water down 15 feet from a 2 inch trash pump necked down to 1 inch...........and after 9 hours we thought really did something............got most of the lighter stuff floated/fluffed out of the vertical standpipe............but there is still stuff down in there...............

I feel your pain

Worked for a couple of hours using rebar and some welded on "hoe blades", just angle iron shaped to match the culvert curve. Worked pretty well, but it's slow hoeing!

Got in 17 feet with the blade befor hitting "the wall". I can push the 1/2 inch reabar right through the full 20" plus a forearm's length, so the bottom must be open.

From the short side (uphill) material is pulled out to 5 1/2 feet before the block. The lay of the land keeps a ten foot section of rebar from doing much at the blockage. I might cut it off to 8 feet and see if the better angle can wiggle anything free.

Since it appears that there is a channel through the bottom. I may give the water pipe a chance to right the wrongs. ;-)

tomorrow! It's hard work pushing rebar through a culvert!

 

[CalG]

Well, Ain't this something

Worked on the clogged culvert again today. All the fancy scoops and augers in the world wouldn't have done squat!

The pipe is ovaled at a high spot about 9 feet in fromn the up hill end.

With lots of stroking a length of rebar in and out while running hose volume/ pressure full bore. I was able to move nearly all the gravel over the hump.
Sighting from the low end, with my eye at the very top of the culvert bore, I could just see a crescent of light from the far uphill end.

The high spot is just about one culvert diameter above the opening.

No chance of working!

Plus, the culvert is ovaled as determined by how a simple L bend in the rebar went through the bore. Lateral position was OK, vertical orientation was a no go!

I'll need to dig the pipe up and lift the high end a bit higher. There is room as far as the road way grade and lay of the land goes. Not sure about the integrity of the culvert however. My luck, there is a seam of ledge right at that kink!

OH! I tried to wash a string down through the pipe with the water stream. All I ended up with was a ball of knots as the water level was nearly half way up the opening and not enough flow was going over the rise to establish a flow. The swirl sure did a job on that line.

I wished I had a mouse to tie a string to it's hind leg and send it through ;-)

Pick and shovel work to inspect the trouble spot, then a few bucket cuts into hard packed roadway should allow the culvert to be lifted.

Some additional road gravel will be needed.

The joys of rural living ;-)

 

[CalG]

Well, Ain't this something

Worked on the clogged culvert again today. All the fancy scoops and augers in the world wouldn't have done squat!

The pipe is ovaled at a high spot about 9 feet in fromn the up hill end.

With lots of stroking a length of rebar in and out while running hose volume/ pressure full bore. I was able to move nearly all the gravel over the hump.
Sighting from the low end, with my eye at the very top of the culvert bore, I could just see a crescent of light from the far uphill end.

The high spot is just about one culvert diameter above the opening.

No chance of working!

Plus, the culvert is ovaled as determined by how a simple L bend in the rebar went through the bore. Lateral position was OK, vertical orientation was a no go!

I'll need to dig the pipe up and lift the high end a bit higher. There is room as far as the road way grade and lay of the land goes. Not sure about the integrity of the culvert however. My luck, there is a seam of ledge right at that kink!

OH! I tried to wash a string down through the pipe with the water stream. All I ended up with was a ball of knots as the water level was nearly half way up the opening and not enough flow was going over the rise to establish a flow. The swirl sure did a job on that line.

I wished I had a mouse to tie a string to it's hind leg and send it through ;-)

Pick and shovel work to inspect the trouble spot, then a few bucket cuts into hard packed roadway should allow the culvert to be lifted.

Some additional road gravel will be needed.

The joys of rural living ;-)

 

[Jstpssng]

Consider pricing a new (bigger)culvert; about 300 bucks but if you set it properly it will be money well spent. It's hard to dig a culvert without damaging it; if it's already bent in the middle you will just keep fighting it down the road.

 

[CalG]

Consider pricing a new (bigger)culvert; about 300 bucks but if you set it properly it will be money well spent. It's hard to dig a culvert without damaging it; if it's already bent in the middle you will just keep fighting it down the road.

Well, We will just have to see what any existing LEDGE has to say about bigger and deeper! ;_)

The road has two other "Can't get over it. can't get around it, and can't get under it" LEDGE situations, so this one may follow the pattern ;-)

Bigger won't help at all if the water must flow up hill. just means less road depth above ;-)

 

[CalG]

PVC would help. Don't use a big truck tire! They make other sizes I'm told

Brett

Please show me the tire size that will pull through a clogged 12 inch culvert. I'm all for it! Oh, it should be something I "might have around" like a two wheeler take off or something.

Matter of fact, I've not got ANY tires small enough to pull through a clogged 12 inch culvert. (if only it were open)

plane "B" i guess.

 

[Sysop]

IF you could get a chain through, you should use a long piece. Tie some knots in the chain and drag it through nearly all the way. Make the knots larger, hook to the other end and pull it back the other way. Continue this back and forth making the knots larger until you have a decent passage. Find some old iron around that is slightly larger than the hole and hook to the chain and drag it back and forth as well. I've used old window-weights pulled through pipes to clear packed in debris. Once they're passing through, take a second piece of chain and wrap and knot it around whatever old iron you're using to increase the size. Just keep pulling back and forth until all the debris is broken up. Cleaning it out is easy once the packed stuff is broken up.