Help with creek crossing

[caver]

Co-worker had a dry creek crossing about that size that went to the house he was having built. The culverts kept getting washed out during flash floods. He went with a concrete bridge and has not had a problem since.

 

[MacLawn]

Looks like a job for a bridge to me. But I don't know much.

 

[MotorSeven]

Since the approach(s) will also flood I don't think a bridge would have any advantage. I would go with several smaller culverts(18-20") side by side, then pour concrete over them. During a real flood they will just go under water and let the debris go over top of them. Of course during the flood you won't be able to drive in or out but as long as you are prepared for that it's not a big deal. Many driveways are done this way in my area and none have washed out.

The creek that runs through my place is 35' wide bank to bank and has 6-8' banks. The county put in a million dollar concrete bridge over it to serve the 4 houses on this other side. During the winter we average anywhere from 2-10 floods that flood the approach. The nice fancy bridge is high and dry, but the road is 3' under water.

 

[Jisgren]

Neither approach/road shows any sign of floddong - both are covered in pine straw

 

[vpracer]

I have much the same issue with a piece of the lake backing up onto my property. Look at the houston craigslist and type in "flat shipping rack". I found this guy who sells these things, he goes by Forklift Mike. They are 40ft long, weigh 11k lbs and can handle a load upwards of 100k lbs. I plan on building a couple piers on both sides of the lake and then setting this across. I think the weight will keep it in place during the worst of floods but I'll chain it to a tree or something just in case. If you don't have the equipment, you'll probably need an excavator or crane for an hr or so to set it in place. Just a thought. Mike said he sells alot of these for bridges. He sold two last in the last couple of weeks to guys in Madisonville for bridges. My place is in limestone county so I'm paying Mike to bring it up there. I only have a 27' flatbed.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Lucky guy, vpracer! I couldn't find anybody with a used flat rack for sale up here. In any case, pricing is outrageous...even regular 20 ft shipping containers are nearly 3X the SE US price.

Back to the OP...I was wondering if a concrete-floored ford wouldn't work for that crossing. You could install when things are totally dry and the only potential problem would be during rainstorms (or snowmelt?) when the water might be too deep/swift to safely drive through.