Culvert

[Richard]

With regard to digging out... I could also take the box blade and scrape most of the gravel away while at the same time, slicing down in a more controlled fashion than the backhoe. (thinking out loud)

 

[Jim Timber]

When I had to dig mine out (20' flatbed drove off the edge of my road - crushing and bending a 24" steel culvert), I used the loader to scrape off most of the top cover before the mini-ex came in and dug out next to the pipe before then lifting it out.

If you repair the one you have, and are particular about not disturbing the bedding it's in, you can just get the top dressing off, replace the pipe in the bed, then fill it over again. That'll leave the existing structure intact (if you can do it).

Supporting the bottom of the pipe is critical to it's integrity under load, so the bedding is as important as the top cover's depth to distribute the weight. If you need to dig out the trench, use coarse aggregate for base and tamp it with your backhoe's bucket real good before filling in around the pipe. You also want to keep tamping in lifts as you fill the work area. Ground prep is probably more important to the longevity of the culvert than the pipe itself.

 

[DJ54]

You'll need to remove material from the top, plus dig down on the sides, past center, and get all dirt away from it. Even at that, with it being filled with wet heavy debris, if that's single wall pipe, I seriously doubt it will take the stress needed to lift it out, with all of that weight inside. It's not all that rigid, and will more than likely bend/break just beyond your lifting point.

We found years ago, any of the early single wall pipe that has been exposed to UV light for a couple of years, will get brittle, and break easy.

 

[Deere Dude]

I wouldn't fool around with trying to save the old pipe because new double wall pipes are so cheap. I think so much time would be taken to get the old one out methodically and more than likely would get punctured and break up anyway. Just rip into it and get a nice pad and refill.

 

[Richard]

First off...what kind of traffic is going over this culvert/road ? If it gets alot of use and heavy vehicles then i would opt to install the metal corrugated pipe.

Just noticed you were in Tellico Plains. I work in Madisonville one day a week (I work in Madisonville, Maryville, Greenback and Sweetwater)

You're about the closest person I've seen on this forum to me.

PS: How do I go edit the title? It bugs me that it says Culver

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Drew just posted some pics of his culvert install in the "Good Morning" thread.

 

[Richard]

Went out a while ago and started poking around with the hoe.

Looks like it is about 12" ID (eyeballing it) It is single wall and, it's full of sediment!

As I tried to lift the end out of the ground with the backhoe, it broke about three feet of pipe. I'm guessing it will do this to the rest of it as we dig it up. That's ok.... we'll need to get the dirt that's in there, out somehow. Sections will make it easier to handle. Could barely lift this piece (by hand) with the sediment packed in there.

Now, where on earth do you find dual walled corrugated pipe like this?

Box stores don't seem to have it. Been looking online and coming up with nothing nearby.

 

[LD1]

Now, where on earth do you find dual walled corrugated pipe like this?

Box stores don't seem to have it. Been looking online and coming up with nothing nearby.

Dont know what you have, but up here Menards, Lowes, Home depot, Carter Lumber/Holmes lumber all carry it.

 

[Richard]

As best I can tell, Lowes/HD here have it discontinued. They only carry something that is 6-8 inches.

Still hunting...

We decided to leave the pipe in the ground (so we can continue to drive slowly over it) until we get the replacement pipe in hand. Then we can hopefully dig it out and replace it at same time rather than leave an open ditch for a week.

 

[Streetcar]

Most building supply stores would carry the culvert. Shipping would kill you on Internet purchase

 

[Jim Timber]

Home Depot was to the store delivery up at my property, but the Menards 4 miles away has all kinds of culvert options in stock, so that's what I went with.

Any decent building supply store will be able to get you 12" culvert in double wall. They might not have one on hand, but they'll be able to order it.

 

[Coyote machine]

Seek out where your town buys culverts when they need them. Depending, you might be able to buy from them on a stock delivery to the town garage.

To change to 'culvert' at this point, click the little triangle at the bottom of any of your posts to ask the admin to change it for you. If you had done it when you created the thread, the bottom of the post would have and edit 'button' to click and you can change it yourself.

I wouldn't use anything smaller than 15" diameter. When you go 1/2 increase in diameter you increase volume by nearly 5 times. So a 12" to 18" would handle 5 times the amount of water. Your 12 was obviously undersized, and jammed because of that. Design for worse case, highest water situation, then you're covered and don't have to worry, or tear it up again down the road.

Search google for double walled HDPE culvert.
Link:https://www.google.com/webhp?source...2&ie=UTF-8#q=double wall hdpe corrugated pipe

 

[LD1]

IMO, too many people saying to go too big.

Let the terrain dictate height.

The culvert as a whole cannot be dug deeper than the outlet. So the "bottom" is gonna be fixed in the same location weather you use a 4" or a 36" culvert. So let the height be the deciding factor. A 18" culvert with 9" of dirt on top is 27" from the fixed "bottom" point. If that is significantly higher than the rest of the driveway, its gonna leave a hump, create a speed bump, and just look like crap IMO.

So look at the rest of the drive and determin the maximum height that would be acceptable. Size accordingly assuming 50% fill on top. Then if you need more flow, add a second or third culvert.

Oh, and adding 50% to the diameter( in the example above going from 12 to 18) only adds about double the capacity. (2.25 times to be exact). Not 5x's. Doubling diameter gets you 4x's the volume.

Of course all this assuming that the culvert getting crushed was the issue to begin with. Maybe I missed it but didn't see plugging as the primary issue

 

[Richard]

I found a brand on internet....sent local rep a question as to where to buy. Turns out my local co-op carries it! He went on to say that the county requires a 15"pipe, not 12". (he lives in same county)

So it's looking like we might have a 15". I'm calling the co-op on Monday. Nice thing is, the co-op is actually closer to me than the "local" HD or other large store!

 

[Jim Timber]

Perfect!

 

[Coyote machine]

I found a brand on internet....sent local rep a question as to where to buy. Turns out my local co-op carries it! He went on to say that the county requires a 15"pipe, not 12". (he lives in same county)

So it's looking like we might have a 15". I'm calling the co-op on Monday. Nice thing is, the co-op is actually closer to me than the "local" HD or other large store!

Well, there you go; and 15" is pretty standard for residential driveways. I did the dia./volume capacity from memory- sorry - guess I make mistakes.:confused3:
You did say the culvert was plugged with silt, no?

 

[PhysAssist]

IMO, too many people saying to go too big.

Let the terrain dictate height.

The culvert as a whole cannot be dug deeper than the outlet. So the "bottom" is gonna be fixed in the same location weather you use a 4" or a 36" culvert. So let the height be the deciding factor. A 18" culvert with 9" of dirt on top is 27" from the fixed "bottom" point. If that is significantly higher than the rest of the driveway, its gonna leave a hump, create a speed bump, and just look like crap IMO.

So look at the rest of the drive and determin the maximum height that would be acceptable. Size accordingly assuming 50% fill on top. Then if you need more flow, add a second or third culvert.

Oh, and adding 50% to the diameter( in the example above going from 12 to 18) only adds about double the capacity. (2.25 times to be exact). Not 5x's. Doubling diameter gets you 4x's the volume.

Of course all this assuming that the culvert getting crushed was the issue to begin with. Maybe I missed it but didn't see plugging as the primary issue

As usual, LD-1 is on point.

From my point of view, however, I would mention that resistance to flow is squared by each 50% reduction in diameter with the reverse also being true (but of course, my ability to relate to it comes from understanding airway resistance, as in with asthma and COPD.)

Thomas

 

[redman135]

One thing that nobody has said, make sure the water has a clear exit(20'-40'). This is to keep the water speed up to prevent silting up of the culvert. Many culvert failures are due to a blocked exit causing silt to be dropped in the pipe until it is completely blocked.

 

[Coyote machine]

One thing that nobody has said, make sure the water has a clear exit(20'-40'). This is to keep the water speed up to prevent silting up of the culvert. Many culvert failures are due to a blocked exit causing silt to be dropped in the pipe until it is completely blocked.

That's more of a factor in single wall culverts that aren't smooth interior. Double wall with smooth interior pretty much keeps anything from clogging the culvert, possible exception is ice.

 

[Streetcar]

That's more of a factor in single wall culverts that aren't smooth interior. Double wall with smooth interior pretty much keeps anything from clogging the culvert, possible exception is ice.

Red man is correct make sure outlet is clear. No matter how smooth the pipe ,sediment will build up just upstream from obstruction in the channel.