How to move a heavy pipe???

[HCJ]

I need a culvert pipe for a creek crossing. Found what seems a great price on a concrete pipe, a 4' diameter by 16' long concrete pipe, like new. Problem is, it's 30 miles away, and I would have to load it, transport it 30 miles, and unload it at the creek, and place it. The price is $150. He has 3 for sale, but I only need one. I have a 7 ton gooseneck flat top and a 70 horse tractor with a loader with a 2500 lb lift. Obviously this pipe weighs many tons. My loader could not come close to lifting it. My gut (and brain) tells me "no way". But the pipe would be perfect for my needs.

My question is how much should it weigh? And are there any clever ideas to load this and unload it? If the Egyptians could move 30 ton stones by hand, surely we can come up with an idea to transport this pipe. If I have to pay someone to move it, it won't be a bargain. Out of curiosity, what should I expect to pay for a pipe this size in concrete, galvanized, or plastic? I could easily move a steel or plastic one, but I expect they cost much more, and are not nearly as strong as a concrete one. Unless the experts here at TBN have some great ideas, looks like I will have to continue wading across this creek.

 

[CurlyDave]

Concrete weighs about 150 lbs/cu ft. We have to know the wall thickness to calculate weight.

How did the culvert get to its current location in the first place?

P.S. You can't fool me, the Egyptians had thousands of slaves with ropes to move those rocks. I saw the Ten Commandments.

The also didn't have to satisfy the highway patrol.

 

[slagmaker]

not sure how much it will weight, but if it is less than 14,000 and you can come up with a bale moving trailer it might work. If your lucky you might even be able to dump it like bales.

they work great for moving smaller pipe

 

[JB4310]

link

Illinois Concrete Pipe Association

As you can see by this link this pipe could weigh close to 1,000 lbs per foot if it's 5 inch wall thickness.
So that rules out moving it with a 7 ton trailer, if you could get it delivered to your property with a heavier equipment trailer you could role it in to place, but it would be a challenge to say the least.

What do you need the creek crossing for? home driveway or access to back property. why do you need 16 ft wide? and do you need 4ft dia.

http://www.marienco.com/doc/N-12 Brochure.pdf

This stuff is HD and relatively light weight but very expensive.


Plastic Culvert FAQ
This link compares plastic vs concrete vs metal.

JB.

 

[ampsucker]

well, the price is right, but i agree, moving it would be a pretty big challenge without specialized equipment.

how about using multiple smaller pipes to get the cross sectional area (flow volume) you need?

for example, one 4' diameter pipe has a cross sectional area of 12.5 feet. you could use 6 or 7 smaller 1.5' diameter pipes to get the same cross sectional area and they would be much easier to move into place.

just an idea. i know it wouldn't be nearly as cheap, but you might find some smaller culvert pipe on sale somewhere and could go that route instead. plus moving the 4' pipe doesn't sound like it will be cheap either.

amp

 

[Egon]

16 foot concrete pipe may require lifting at certain points to prevent breaking.

 

[MarkV]

Wonder if you could drag it onto a roll back type of wrecker with its winch?

MarkV

 

[radioman]

No wonder they were selling it cheap- he can't get rid of it himself. If you only need a crossing for tractor, would a 10 foot work ? Reason I ask with 10 foot is if the concrete pipe is made like many concrete pipes I have seen, they have a bell and insert end. If you cut a 5 foot off each end and transport one at a time? using JB4310 thoerically guessed wieght, it would be only 5k, something your gooseneck can handle. Once you get it where you want it, I am sure you can roll it into place with your tractor and assemble the 2 pieces to make a 10 footer pipe. The only real expense would be renting a gas powered concrete saw to cut the pipe, and whole lotta sweat and elbow grease like egyptians.

 

[GaryBDavis]

not sure how much it will weight, but if it is less than 14,000 and you can come up with a bale moving trailer it might work. If your lucky you might even be able to dump it like bales.

they work great for moving smaller pipe

Nice hay trailer. What brand is it? I assume it is a side dump, is that correct?

 

[JB4310]

That weight I estimated was for standard RCP, (5" thick wall = 867 lbs/ft) I've never seen or heard of concrete pipe in 16 foot lengths so I doubt it is standardized.

That ADS N-12 pipe is only 31 lbs per foot for 48" dia but costs $54/ft.

JB.