Steel or Poly Culvert and how much does it run where you are?

[lilranch2001]

Thanks everyone!

 

[CreekyB]

That's the price for hdpe with Belled ends in my area.

What's the price of a coupler for a pair of galvanized pipes if needed? Probably makes up the difference.

Even at the prices you list, there ain't enough difference for me to use galvanized.

Oh, and another rule of thumb... half the diameter of the pipe is the amount of fill needed over top.

The band for that pipe is 22$, the sloped 6/1 culvert end is $108, the price for them to cut a 6/1 on the end of your pipe is $110.

I am not advocating for either one. Mine is DW HDPE, the next ones I am going to do will be DW HDPE.

Mine were free, a bunch of 18"x20' sections of plastic culvert pipe were left on the property next door by the previous owner, still have 5. Not because he was nice or helpful, he also left over 150 used tires, over 300 railroad ties. Two decaying mobile homes. By the time we figured out that he was only moving what he considered valuable out when he was sober enough for presentation all his antique and classic "rollers" were gone. I fenced, filed some abandonment paper work and got the authorities involved

 

[Furu]

Here in the PNW area I paid $293 each for 18" x 20ft double wall HDPE before taxes back in 2012. When I went to pick it up the sales guy hesitated to honor the quoted price because he said they were making nothing on it but he sold it anyway at the $293 price. My $14.68 per foot is a lot more than the $11.88 that Kubota Toy from Tennessee quoted. Everything is more out here I guess.

 

[Billrog]

Here I pay $10 a ft. for 12" corrugated exterior with a smooth liner. I install a few every year for customers & prefer them over galv. for example if an end gets buggered up or crushed it's much easier to cut a chunk off . Only down side I can think of is if an end gets plugged in flood conditions you can't use a metal detector to find an end to clear the blockage. I would have never thought of it before but a few winters ago the Municipality here hired me to clear a no. of blocked ones and they flagged them all for me using a metal detector so I'd know where to dig.

 

[crazyal]

I hesitate going anything less than 15" and almost always recommend 18". I've had several people ignore that and go with 10" and then a year later they are plugged up with silt. If silt is not an issue then you should be fine. Most go with plastic because it's much easier to get around here. I personally like steel (even if it could rust) simply because if it does get plugged and can't easily be cleaned out I can remove some of the gravel from the top with my backhoe (assuming the drive is not paved) and then pull the pipe out of the ground without damaging it. Then standing it on end allows the silt to be removed. Plastic needs to have more of the gravel removed and will not stand up to a tooth from by bucket hitting it. The state uses all plastic now. I think that life expectancy matters more to them. As for price, a quick search of Manards shows the price within a few bucks of each other. Plastic weights a lot less. Trying to move an 18" 300lb steel pipe is a workout and usually involves the loader. Plastic must weigh half what steel does.

The last time I bought plastic pipe I bought it on-line. They had free shipping on orders over $500. Two 18" double wall pipes were just over $250 each. The guy showed up with a small truck, unloaded them, and left. It was kind of nice since I didn't have to mess with running to the store to buy it. I can't remember if these were the guys I used but they are about the same price. I placed the order a couple weeks before doing the job.

HDPE Double Wall Pipe | Plastic Culvert Pipe Cash Concrete

 

[4570Man]

I have some 18" plastic culvert in my back yard. There is only about 8 inches of dirt over it and I have driven my tractor and a loaded 1 ton dump truck over it without any problems. The plastic last longer and is smoother oh the inside. There are plenty of rusted out galvanized culverts around here. The $11 per foot sounds pretty close to what I paid.

 

[TMGT]

It's between 160-200 here for 12x20 double wall, not sure on steel. I like the plastic since the liner is smooth and seems to not collect gravel like the steel.

For 12" I try to get 12" of fill above it if possible, however I've seen way shallower survive without a problem.

 

[s219]

The big benefit of poly is light weight -- one person can handle a 20' piece of pipe, which is a huge benefit if you're working alone.

I like 15" pipe for culverts, and it meets our state regs for roadside culverts, which need to be able to pass a certain amount of water.

I pay $180 for a 15"x20' ADS N12 pipe with bell and spigot ends. You can trim the ends off with a sawzall if desired.

I saw 12"x20' was priced at $125. That would be suitable for locations with less flow. I wouldn't go smaller than 12".

 

[stuckmotor]

Speaking of roadside culvert. For years I've seen roadside culverts in ditches that had recently been cleaned and it appeared that the cleaning device had been run into the culvert in an attempt to clean it. The result being a concrete culvert that had been ground away for about a foot at the top. Does anyone know the economics of installing a 20 ft culvert then grinding away a foot from the top of each end. Does this shape tend to make the culverts self cleaning or is the only reason they do it like that to clean out the ends of the culvert?

 

[bcp]

Do you mean something like this?



Bruce