Collapsed culvert washout

[thunder86]

I’ve got a huge washout about 6 feet wide and 6 feet deep due to a culvert that was crushed years ago. I managed to use my tractor backhoe to fill it in and dig the culvert out but somehow the water is just leaking through the ground where I placed the dirt and running through into my field. I’m not sure what to do at this point. My dirt has a lot of big rocks in it which I thought was good but maybe I should’ve just gotten solid dirt. I also took out smaller trees/limbs/roots and added them to the dirt pile I was making which could be an issue. You would think this much dirt though would be under a ton of weight on itself and pack down good.
what do I do from here?
this creek is supposed to stay in the woods and run straight not turn 90 degrees and wash into my field. Thanks

 

[pmsmechanic]

I used to work for a irrigation district. When back filling culverts you were only allowed to use nice clean fill. No rocks or organic matter. Clay was best, not to wet and not to dry. Back-fill in 6" lifts or less and thoroughly compact every lift. If the ground was too muddy we could put a dry plug on each end and mix up a batch of mud in the middle and pack it around the culvert. That would also seal but you couldn't drive any equipment over the culvert till it had dried out a bit.

 

[thunder86]

I used to work for a irrigation district. When back filling culverts you were only allowed to use nice clean fill. No rocks or organic matter. Clay was best, not to wet and not to dry. Back-fill in 6" lifts or less and thoroughly compact every lift. If the ground was too muddy we could put a dry plug on each end and mix up a batch of mud in the middle and pack it around the culvert. That would also seal but you couldn't drive any equipment over the culvert till it had dried out a bit.

Darn. That makes sense. What do I do at this point? Can it settle over time under its own weight? I have another giant pile of dirt ready to go behind this one that would fill another few feet but it has rock in it. I’ve got about 18 hours wrapped up in this project.

 

[thunder86]

Darn. That makes sense. What do I do at this point? Can it settle over time under its own weight? I have another giant pile of dirt ready to go behind this one that would fill another few feet but it has rock in it. I’ve got about 18 hours wrapped up in this project.

Also I took the culvert out altogether. I don’t need it. Loggers threw it in to get across years ago when I didn’t own it and I guess their the ones that collapsed it and started this issue.

 

[Streetcar]

bentonite clay can be spread over the bank of the embankment to slow or stop the water penetration

 

[thunder86]

bentonite clay can be spread over the bank of the embankment to slow or stop the water penetration

How much do I need and how thick? We’re talking 20 feet long by 2 feet tall roughly maybe not even 20’ needed.

 

[thunder86]

I’ve got another big pile of dirt. Would it be a good idea to dig out half of what I placed in it and smash/compact it down with the back hoe bucket and then place this on top smashing it down as I go?

 

[pmsmechanic]

The culvert is probably leaking underneath. There are only 2 ways that I know of to fix that. The best way would be to completely remove the culvert and start over. Make sure you place the culvert on a totally level surface with maybe an inch of soft crumbly dirt to lay the culvert on. Rent a jumping jack and pound down 6" lifts of dirt. The first lift is the most important. You need to make sure that the dirt under the curve of the culvert get's compacted. Make sure you use a spade and completely fill the void under the curve of the culvert. Make sure you compact under the curve thoroughly.

The second way is to put a good solid plug on each end. Two reasons. One you don't want the culvert to move and you need a basin the mix the mud in. I would mix some mud on one side and use the backhoe bucket to push it through underneath to the other side. It's slow going and a PIA but you need to get mud completely around the culvert. There are no short cuts to a guaranteed job. The more rock free the mud the easier to is to get a good seal.

Bentonite work to a certain extent but I'm thinking you already have a channel for the water to flow under the culvert. Bentonite seals seepage, not a channel.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Darn. That makes sense. What do I do at this point? Can it settle over time under its own weight? I have another giant pile of dirt ready to go behind this one that would fill another few feet but it has rock in it. I’ve got about 18 hours wrapped up in this project.

The culvert itself will never settle. There's most likely a channel for the water to flow under the culvert itself.

You can use a tractor to pack the dirt around the culvert but it does not pack the dirt the extent that a jumping jack does. There are no short cuts to doing a proper job when it comes to water. Under pressure it will always find the path of least resistance to leak through.

 

[LD1]

Hard to get the total scope of the job at hand with a single picture.

Why is water trying to flow that direction? Why was there a culvert in the first place?

Seems you are trying to dam the water from flowing where it wants to. Moving water is powerful.....erosion is a force that is hard to stop.

But again.....without stepping back and taking some wider angle shots its hard to advise.

 

[Rockbadchild]

can you dig to the top of the culvert ? that’s 6 feet deep ??

I would dig a good portion of it compact, then place a geotextile fabric then backfill the rest with what ever you have but gravel would be better …

 

[LD1]

Am i missing something? He said there is no culvert?

 

[Diggin It]

Am i missing something? He said there is no culvert?

At least one other person is reading.


OP says ... culvert is out. Ditch is backfilled. Water wasn't suppose to run that way to begin with. Culvert was added years ago to aid vehicles going over a depression. OP doesn't want water running that way any more, wants to stop flow and redirect back to original path so as not to soak field.

OP, have you tried bigger rock ... riprap type rock? That should reduce the flow and prevent washout. Smaller stuff and clay will fill in the gaps to further reduce flow. Maybe even a bit of concrete.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Am i missing something? He said there is no culvert?

y’a my bad … i had in mind the culvert was still in place just collapsed…i got confused with the ding it in and filled it out

 

[Rockbadchild]

water want to go through piles up, saturate the dirt then washes away … if one sand graine moves it induce other to do so and their it goes … if it had a culvert there it was for a reason … it will be a constants issue …. dig it in with your backhoe and put draine pipe at least … . but ya i zoomed out pictures of the issue would be nice …

 

[thunder86]

Sorry for lack of pictures and maybe I’m bad at explaining myself. “Digging it” got it right.
The water was forced to turn a “unnatural” 90 degree turn when loggers broke the culvert. It busted. The creek is only 1 to 2 feet deep but the 90 degree turn washed 6 feet deep into the field past 18 years.

I drove my tractor on the “dam” removing some dirt with backhoe and then smashing it down inch by inch all the way across. This helped a ton I think. Still a good steady stream is coming out of the ground on the backside. I have another pile of dirt ready to go to make it another 4 feet wide or so and can plant grass seed on the backside?
Could be the creek is sitting 2 feet deep and the washout is sitting 5 feet deep just a few feet out?
Some of my photos it says file too large, not sure why.

 

[thunder86]

Should I dig all that dirt back out and order a truck load of clay soil?
take that other dirt pile and fill it in the back and plant grass seed?

 

[thunder86]

At least one other person is reading.


OP says ... culvert is out. Ditch is backfilled. Water wasn't suppose to run that way to begin with. Culvert was added years ago to aid vehicles going over a depression. OP doesn't want water running that way any more, wants to stop flow and redirect back to original path so as not to soak field.

OP, have you tried bigger rock ... riprap type rock? That should reduce the flow and prevent washout. Smaller stuff and clay will fill in the gaps to further reduce flow. Maybe even a bit of concrete.

Your spot on. I thought about throwing down some concrete mix but I just want to make sure the water will flow down stream before I do this or it would cause bigger problems.
It is flowing better after I smashed everything down with the backhoe. In summer time this creek dries completely which could make easier work if I concrete or clay it.
Could be the fact water hasn’t flowed that way in years and everything down stream is plugged up and the water is just sitting there too long. Maybe a good heavy rain will get it flowing faster with less time to sit?

 

[LD1]

You have plenty of room to go wider with your "dam"

 

[oosik]

AH...... I'm confused.