How would you fix this? Road washed out...

[fried1765]

Build it as a "ford"....

If you have 4 ft of water, you are going in or out anyway...

Dale

Excellent solution !!!!

 

[ruffdog]

No culvert size is saving the road bed if water is getting 4' deep at the road. A major re-think of the area seems the way to go.

 

[RSR]

Did the OP possible mean 4 inches, instead of 4 feet?

 

[oosik]

Hmmm........ 4" vs 4'. That WOULD make a great deal of difference. Just have to wait to see what the OP says.

Yes - a "ford" made of concrete would be an excellent solution. Who has that kind of $$$$ though.

Down south of me there is a "ford" of a small stream. It's made of heavy railroad ballast. Not nearly as $$$$ as concrete. But still - if the flood is a raging torrent - even the RR ballast would eventually wash out and the "ford" would end up a mess.

 

[thclimer]

It sure doesn't look like the water was 4 feet above the road from the one picture, but unless you were there pictures can be deceiving, hopefully the OP will confirm.

While more expensive, wouldn't it be better to have the pipe bedded in something like rip rap rock, then on top crushed stone? The gravel he has looks to be mixed with lots of sand and rounded rocks which will offer little support when it becomes saturated like it has, no wonder why he sunk deep into it. I would think at least broken stone with sharp edges has each other to bite into providing a structure to drive over even when saturated. Hopefully someone with more knowledge than I can confirm this.

 

[Hay Dude]

I would raise the road with a bed much larger boulders, then large stone (we call them footballs-12 stone) if you cant afford the concrete ford type of crossing.

 

[Darryle]

Learn the art of building rock baskets, gabions, build a sufficient header and buy 2 larger culverts. Another option is concrete bag crossings and headers

Gabions

low water crossing

Concrete Bag Crossings

 

[XM16E1]

Hi guys, sorry for the late reply. I should have clarified, water was about 4 feet deep including the area that washed out. So it was 1.5ish feet above the actual road itself. Water would spill over xtra tough boots when you were about 25 yards away from the culvert. Hard to see in the pics but both sides of the ground slope towards the culvert.

My plan now is to dig out and install a second culvert lined with bags of concrete, than back fill. Hopefully I can source some broken up concrete or asphalt but if I can't my sandy gravel will have to do.

What do you think about lining the bank with bags of concrete, 10-15 feet in each direction, two or three high, creating a slope against the road bank that would hopefully make a poor mans spillway. Waste of time or worth a try?

 

[Ford850]

I would build it using a few of the suggestions posted above. Build it back to the way it was with a bit of improvement. Add an extra culvert. Add concrete bags on each end to prevent erosion and water intrusion between the culverts. Build the road up over the culvert, approximately 20' length, so it is 1' higher than the road on either side. That provides a broad overflow area on each side and away from the culvert during severe storms.

 

[redman135]

XM16E1, if you make a floodway, shift to the side of the culverts to make replacement easier and cheaper in the event of a 2nd washout,
I recommend you put in deliniaters (road side marker peg) so you can see where the road is when it is underwater as it is disorienting driving through moving water.
INCLUDE FLOOD DEPTH MARKER BOARD. This will tell you if you can get through or not. Deliniators and flood depth markers are standard practice on main road floodways in West Australia. google "road floodway". The 2m(metre) depth marker is standard.