Creek Culvert

[dirtworksequip]

It may be easier to cut the banks on both sides of the creek to construct a creek crossing rather than try and put culvert and fill. That will depend on if there is a good bottom on the creek itself. It will need to be firm enough to allow for the heavy lime truck to run on without sinking. In other words.........a rock bottom.

With a 12 foot width in the stream and 1 to 2 feet of water I'm not ever sure a 36 inch culvert would handle the flow. The last road I helped a friend put in we used two 48 inch culverts and the stream was not near that wide. Always OVERSIZE what you think you will need. Another RULE: You usually need twice the lenght you think you need too.

 

[weldingisfun]

Go big. Don't get me wrong but it sounds like you are thinking short term only. Doing all this work just to get a truck loaded with lime over your creekbed? If you are going to do it, do it permanent.
I installed a little 12 inch culvert in my seasonal creek to get into where I finally build my house. It worked great for three years. Then a developer came in and channeled the runoff of nearly 15 acres and 20 new houses into that little creek. It washed out.
After much complaining and threatening, the developer pit in an 18 inch. It washed out the very next rain, three weeks after the install. I made them come back and add two more 18 inch pipes. Wish I had been able to read this thread 18 months ago. I would have had them put in a 36 inch from the "gitgo".
I'm just waiting for the next "turd floater", as my neighbor calls them, to hit to see if my road gets washed out again.
Bottomline, Dirtworksequip, think of this as a permanent crossing, do it right and as everyone seems to be saying go as big as you can afford.

Workinallthetime, thanks for the Website. I've been looking for that kind of information. Looks like I have a need to put in two more culverts on my road, thanks to that same *%#@ developer.

For those who may be wondering about building codes and such. They don't exist in the non-established areas of central Texas. The developers here do as they *%#@ well please.

 

[EddieWalker]

Just to clarify, I said a 36 inch as a blind recomendation. I have no clue what the water is like coming down that creek and very well could be way undersized in recmomending a 36 inch culvert. It could very well need a much larger one.

Thanks Dave on clarifying how much fill you need. I thought 9 inches on a 18 inch culvert sounded thin, but was too lazy to look it up. hahaha 12 inches or more would be much, much better.

One other suggestion is to watch the classifieds. I always check Classifieds - Classified Ads - Advertising - Used Cars - New Cars - Homes for Sale - Real Estate for my area and the surrounding area for things I know I'll need. Culverts, gates, fence posts and things like that. I have a list of keywords that I type in and do a quick search for. If you have the time, most everything comes up for sale.

I also search the local papers online classifieds, ebay and craigslist.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[drssg]

We went with a 20' culvert to go over our small creek, and I wouldn't want it any narrower. We also choose one larger pipe, instead of multiple smaller pipes. We ordered a metal pipe with flat section on the bottom. It looks more like a half circle with a flat bottom. This allows for more water flow with less height, and we have less issues with clogging than we would with multiple smaller culverts.

Our creek runs under a public road near our property, so I ordered the same size pipe for my drive.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Thanks for all the good advice. It always pays to poll the experts here on TBN. As is usually the case, my first instinct on how to do this has a lot of flaws. I will take a pic next time I am at the farm and post it.

Another thought; do county road depts. have old culverts that they pull out from jobs they are working? I'm wondering if a campaign donation might get me a used one. Anyone ever try this approach?

 

[patrick_g]

Please don't penalize me for piling on! Don't even consider using a short culvert, it is a BAD idea which will fail if the whole thing isn't covered in concrete. With dirt fill you need to leave the 20 footer a 20 footer. If you use two pipes they shouldn't be placed side by side and should, at a minimum, be separated by a space as large as the top cover of fill is deep but more is better.

IMHO if you want this to last through a period of runoff you should be looking for a larger pipe, maybe a 30 inch.

The largest plastic drain sold locally here is 16 inch The capacity of the 30 inch is nearly 4 times the 16 inch. Do you have space for 4 of the 16 inchers? The 16 inchers can be close stacked in a diamond shape if they are grouted in with concrete to form a single structure (with few or no voids.)

If the crossing is truly temporary, just use dirt without a drain. Fill it in as required and pack it just prior to delivery and remove it after. A substandard drain will wash out anyway leaving you with wasted time and material. So either do it to last or do it TEMPORARILY.

Pat

 

[m7040]

I have a similar situation with a creek flowing normally at a 2 ft wide flow 6 inches or so deep and during rains much more. Have to cross the creek to get to the other side. I used to go through an area that was level but got too soft to cross. So was looking for an alternate approach and found another section that had to be built up 2 ft on one side for a distance of 150 ft and then on the other side it was too high and steep to drive up. So filled in the low area with the FEL about 15 ft wide placed some big flat rocks in the creek to drive on and then cut down the high side and made a ramp with a gentle slope. Looks to be working for me and it cost only my time and fuel. When pricing the culverts it convinced me that preparing the approaches to the creek was the way to go.

 

[mocassincreekranch]

Been in the same boat as you. After much thought I cut both creek bank's down and poured a 8ft x 12ft concrete pad in the bottom of the creek,poured in 4x8 sections using sacrete and a wheelbarrow. This has survived very heavy water flows and no worry of washing out. Just another option.

 

[Defective]

If you have a supply of trees, you could always make a wooden driving surface in the creek. Cut enough logs to make a platform as wide as the creek. Chain them together so they will lay lengthwise in the creek bed & anchor them on either side. When the truck is gone, drag them out, block them & split for firewood. On the other hand, I've left a few of these in place for over a decade and found them to still be functional.

 

[gemini5362]

Go big. Don't get me wrong but it sounds like you are thinking short term only. Doing all this work just to get a truck loaded with lime over your creekbed? If you are going to do it, do it permanent.
I installed a little 12 inch culvert in my seasonal creek to get into where I finally build my house. It worked great for three years. Then a developer came in and channeled the runoff of nearly 15 acres and 20 new houses into that little creek. It washed out.
After much complaining and threatening, the developer pit in an 18 inch. It washed out the very next rain, three weeks after the install. I made them come back and add two more 18 inch pipes. Wish I had been able to read this thread 18 months ago. I would have had them put in a 36 inch from the "gitgo".
I'm just waiting for the next "turd floater", as my neighbor calls them, to hit to see if my road gets washed out again.
Bottomline, Dirtworksequip, think of this as a permanent crossing, do it right and as everyone seems to be saying go as big as you can afford.

Workinallthetime, thanks for the Website. I've been looking for that kind of information. Looks like I have a need to put in two more culverts on my road, thanks to that same *%#@ developer.

For those who may be wondering about building codes and such. They don't exist in the non-established areas of central Texas. The developers here do as they *%#@ well please.

You might check into the legal aspect of what they do. It is grounds for a pretty good lawsuit if you can prove that they have rechanneled water that is flooding your property