Minimum width culvert pipe for a small stream crossing

[new jersey mike]

I am going to install an 18" culvert pipe, it comes the standard 20' but I don't want to use the entire piece. My tractor and car are only 6 ft so I thought use 10 ft. I have different guys hay for me and I want to open some fields up for haying and I do not want to make the crossing to narrow. Any thoughts?

Thank you

 

[woodlandfarms]

Depends on depth. How far down is your ditch from your road top. 6 feet down you are going to need to make a crown at least 45degrees on either side so what is that, an additional 12 feet needed beyond the width of your road bed?

I am of the ilk wider is better. Someone somewhere is going to miss your driveway.

 

[bcp]

Balers can be pretty wide, and they don't always trail centered behind the tractor. A length to get about 12 feet of road surface would be minimum, I think.

Bruce

 

[new jersey mike]

This is not off of a road, it will be a straight run used between fields with a wetland area between them.

 

[Stimw]

I don't think you are saving that much money assuming you will make two crossings with the piece. Wider is better.
I put in the plastic culvert when I redid mine. They said with 1' of cover it had a rating over 70,000lb. I have had full concrete trucks across it with no problems.
Lowe's used to custom order the plastic pipe in standard sizes. I haven't payed any attention lately to see if they still handle it. ???

 

[jinman]

I just put in two 12" culverts side-by-side a little over a year ago. they are only down about 2' from the surface, but the 20' width is about perfect for driving my tractors or any vehicle across. I think you will be very disappointed with only 10'. You'll have not much more than a walking trail. If you want to get a professional opinion, why don't you PM user name RDrancher (John). Culverts and roads are what he does for a living. He can tell you a professional's opinion.

 

[new jersey mike]

I am actually going to put 2 side by side for storm water volume, would 13 feet be wide enough? that would leave 2 - 7's for another area.

 

[PILOON]

You also need to think 'frost' as winter cold can pop things out of the ground.
Also think that worst situation like huge downpours that can wash away any ballast that covers your pipe. (and maybe the pipe)
All so often that once in a hundred year situation happens next year.

 

[MossRoad]

I think you are going to regret going 10'. If the pipe sticks out 1' on each side and you cover it with 1' of material with a 45 dgreee slope that eats up 4', leaving you only 6' of roadway on top. That is not only impracticle, it is unsafe and leaves zero margin for error on a narrow vehicle. I'd go 8' minimum road width and 10' to be safe.

10' roadway with 45 degree slope on 1' of cover material with 1' of pipe sticking out on each side equals 14' minimum of pipe.
And don't forget that in a heavy rain, debris will most likely get washed into your pipe, plugging it, which will cause it to overflow your roadway, possibly washing it way in a hurry and also take into account how high a 1' dam will back-flood the area behing your new dam. So design some sort of spillway around the thing with much gentler slopes/runs, etc...

Good luck with your project and post some pics if you get a chance. :thumbsup:

 

[jinman]

Mike, I'll make you a deal. I'll put my Kawasaki Mule right on top of my 20' culverts and take a picture tomorrow and post it back here. That way you can see a small vehicle and decide how much extra room you have to spare. I guarantee you that when those culverts go into the ground something magical happens and they shrink.

 

[new jersey mike]

Thank you everyone for you input. Jinman I look forward to your pics. MossRoad I did not even think of the area loss due to slope.

I have a lot of soil and heavy rock available to me and I plan on setting it up so with the top acting like a wash for next months 100 year storm.

If anyone else has input please feel free to post.

 

[moeh1]

If you are buying 20 footers, the come with a regular end and a bell end. You can pick the width you what, cut one out and piece the second one together, still leaving you a long piece leftover for another spot ( or use the two ends somewhere else if you dont want a joint here. We had a 10' culvert across a straight shot and it was still a pain, we have a 20 footer there now. I think your 13 or 14 foot with rock ends is a reasonable plan. That would still leave you a 12 or 14' piece for somewhere else.

 

[jinman]

Here are the photos I took this morning. This is 2x20'x12" culverts. Please excuse all the grass and weeds. I'm letting them grow because of the wildflowers. . . That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[new jersey mike]

Hello everyone who responded, I decided to go with your suggestions of wider is better. The pipe had to be installed on a slight angle to the crossing so that needed to be considered, then any extra pieced together would have been too small for additional projects.

This was the first time using the tooth bar I purchased 2 years ago and I am glad I did the soil is very rocky and some of the previous owners in an earlier century piled up rocks as they plowed and created fields and I would never would have been able to get under and scoop with just the straight edge.

My T1530 and 250 loader have their limitations and that was a learning curve.

Could you tell me I know the PTO is best run at 540 aprox 2400rpm's but when I was using the loader I ran it at 2000rpm was that sufficient or should I have run it faster for more power?

I still have more work to do to finish making the pass wider due to lack of time and available rock and soil but I am able to ride over it now so that's a good start.

 

[bcp]

In my experience it seems that above idle, engine speed has little to do with hydraulic power, just speed of action. I've never been able to lift something I couldn't, just by raising RPM's.

Bruce

 

[Egon]

How long?

Decide how wide the road, set the side slope and take into consideration the amount of fill required over the culvert and you have an answere.

 

[k0ua]

Jim your pictures made your argument for the wider culvert very impressive. I guess the backslope just eats up more than you would first think. The case of the incredible shrinking culvert!

James K0UA

 

[jinman]

I think you made the right decision, Mike. You probably saved yourself doing the job twice and a lot of cutting of culverts. I have one place in a pond dam where I connected two 16"x20' culverts for a total width of 40'. I thought it would be huge, but it turned out perfect for the job. A good culvert like you are doing will handle water flow and not silt in. They are far more hassle-free than the shorter ones.

James, thanks for the compliment. My culverts have to work because my soil erodes so easily.

 

[new jersey mike]

How long?

Decide how wide the road, set the side slope and take into consideration the amount of fill required over the culvert and you have an answere.

Oh, I used 2-18" x 20' side by side it is currently 10' wide I will continue the job mid October.

 

[MossRoad]

....
Could you tell me I know the PTO is best run at 540 aprox 2400rpm's but when I was using the loader I ran it at 2000rpm was that sufficient or should I have run it faster for more power?

...

What does your operator's manual tell you?
On my old IH2500b (50pto hp hydro tractor loader) the manual specifically states to run the tractor at the PTO rpm for maximum performance AND safety. That RPM supplies the most power to the hydraulics and the transmission. It also assists with braking. For that matter, it had a foot accellerator pedal to go even more RPM if the tractor started to bog under load at the PTO rpm.