Culvert Install

[Tony H]

When I bought my property 5 years ago it became very obvious if I wanted to reach the other side of my pond I was going to need to make a bridge or culvert over the ditch that feeds the pond. For 8 months out of the year (12 in wet years) navigating the swamp to cross this small ditch is difficult at best. I have been across it twice, both in rented machines and both times were almost a disaster. The ditch is not deep, but deep enough and often times full of water. It was time to do it right!

I had originally thought about making a bridge out of free I-beams I got from a friend, but then got my hands on a cheap 18" reinforced concrete pipe ($100). It seemed to me that dropping a pipe in a hole and coving it with dirt would be easier. The culvert location is 1/3 of a mile from the barn down a steep hill and along a trail. Bobby Branson handled the pipe shuttle no problemo. I am estimating this pipe to be in the 1800 lb range (I could be wrong though).View attachment 767606View attachment 767607

My dirt pile was also up near the barn. So I had to shuttle the dirt from this location down to the culvert 1 bucket at a time. Took about 8 trips. The culvert is not completely finished yet. Plan on putting a concrete apron on the front of it which will allow me to backfill right to the edge of the front, and keep the dirt from washing out around the pipe. But honestly water coming through here is not moving with tons of energy so I am not worried about it getting washed out.

Sorry, having issues upload pictures of the final product, but I am sure you can imagine what it looks like. Excited to gain easy access to that side of the pond. Not much over there yet (due to limited access). I have plans on renting a mini ex and cleaning up that side and cutting a road into the hillside, eventually putting in another access up the draw to the top of the ridge.

Feels good to FINALLY get this project done.

Your pictures must be very high resolution as they're a while to load on this Thread. Not sure how steep the decline was to the crossing, did you back down with the culvert in bucket?

 

[RobertS1947]

Good find on that culvert pipe! 28 years ago I put two in. The first one was on the back portion of my property which I used very little, but very necessary because like you, I risked getting stuck every time I crossed the creek. I did it exactly like you did, filled it with dirt, and it worked fine. BUT, over those 20 plus years the pipe gradually filled in with sediment until it completely closed off. It is still solid enough to drive on, but water flows around it now.
The second one was a feeder creek to my pond, and is used almost daily. I put rip rap along the creek bed (2-4" limestone) fore and aft, placed two culvert pipes (heavier volume of water), then instead of a headwall, i built up rip rap around the opening to just above the pipe, then filled in the rip rap with chips and dust. I also filled the drive over the pipe with chips and dust. 28 years later, it looks just like it did when we put it in. The rip rap fore and aft eventually filled with sediment, then grass grew, but it stays so solid that I can mow it when it is fairly dry. The pipes never filled up. Just recently I added more rip rap at the entrance of the pond to keep more sediment from washing into the pond.

I found that if the slope of the culvert pipe is a little steeper than the slope of the stream at the entrance and exit, the increased water velocity in the culver will prevent sediment accumulation. My fist effort eventually filled up because I installed it level.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Your pictures must be very high resolution as they're a while to load on this Thread. Not sure how steep the decline was to the crossing, did you back down with the culvert in bucket?

@Tony H I ended up driving down forward, i just took my time. It felt really stable, I was in 4x4, I had a 1200 lb ballast on the back and I just creeped down. Totally fine.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Doing a concrete headwall is a great idea. However, you may find that you can do it with stone of some sort for less money--even if it's a bit more labor-intensive.
There is a good book on Best Management Practices that was put out by NYS Forestry that describes how do do it. Here's a link to the PDF file: https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/forestrybmp.pdf. Page 73 starts the section on culverts.
Hope this is helpful

I like the stone idea, but I have no stones. So I would have to go looking for them or buy them, I already have the concrete left over from another project. So this is just easier. Form it up and go! Not a big volume of concrete at all. I will go find some rocks eventually for rip rap though.

I have also seen bags of sacrete used and stacked then wetted and allowed to harden to us as head walls. Looks good when done right and seems to be very effective after the paper bag rots away.

I like the looks of that too, but this ditch/culvert is not big enough for that application.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I found that if the slope of the culvert pipe is a little steeper than the slope of the stream at the entrance and exit, the increased water velocity in the culver will prevent sediment accumulation. My fist effort eventually filled up because I installed it level.

It will be interesting to watch this process. For 8 months out of the year this culvert will have water standing in it. But the energy in this little ditch might just be strong enough to keep it clear. Time will tell.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

i saw something similar for retaining walls on either side of a riverbank cut for a boat slip. Looked really old and it looks like the premix bags were either burlap back then or they mixed their own into burlap. You could still see the bag texture. Each concrete "pillow" was uniform, carefully stacked, and level-- looked good.

OP, I hope you also post your headwall construction project.

I echo the thought of posting some pictures when you're done. Can't wait to see the end result!

 

[LD1]

I took have seen some Culvert headwalls, and retain walls just by stacking bags and wetting.

Problem is, it makes for real weak concrete, and it's the lazy way out.

And the bag concrete sucks IMO.

Maybe guys in Florida, southern CA, or Alabama have good luck with bagged ready-mix.....

But around here....bout all we use it for is like footers for posts or setting fence. It just don't hold up to the weather, and specifically the freeze-thaw.

Maybe the expensive name brand stuff is better? But cheap house brand bag mix stuff....try and pour a little slab, or step or similar....I think it will revert back to sand and gravel in 5 years max.

Not sure the how the science behind the "how" they do it, but buying concrete by the truckload....if it's an exterior slab, they add "air". As in air entrained. Keeps the concrete from spalling

 

[ovrszd]

I took have seen some Culvert headwalls, and retain walls just by stacking bags and wetting.

Problem is, it makes for real weak concrete, and it's the lazy way out.

And the bag concrete sucks IMO.

Maybe guys in Florida, southern CA, or Alabama have good luck with bagged ready-mix.....

But around here....bout all we use it for is like footers for posts or setting fence. It just don't hold up to the weather, and specifically the freeze-thaw.

Maybe the expensive name brand stuff is better? But cheap house brand bag mix stuff....try and pour a little slab, or step or similar....I think it will revert back to sand and gravel in 5 years max.

Not sure the how the science behind the "how" they do it, but buying concrete by the truckload....if it's an exterior slab, they add "air". As in air entrained. Keeps the concrete from spalling

And they use a stronger bag mix than quikcrete.

 

[2manyrocks]

Bag mix will do much better if thoroughly mixed in a concrete mixer. It's my understanding that concrete mixers will entrap air in the cement where hand mixing won't. If the OP has field stone available, headwalls can also be made from field stone and mortar which has some advantage in not needing any formwork and not having to buy as much cement.