Cinder block culvert

[Moves]

Has anyone ever tried making.a low volume culvert out of cinder locks laid side by side with the holes parallel to the ground and then covered by landscape fabric covered by a foot and a half of dirt?

 

[tman1020]

Have not tried it but sounds like a lot of week links to me. Blocks are not a strong that direction.

 

[bcp]

Unless alignment stays perfect, you will get a debris-trapping ledge every 8 inches. And even a handfull of leaves could plug a hole. OK for a walking path, but not a drive-on culvert system.

Try them this way.



Bruce

 

[tcreeley]

Has anyone ever tried making.a low volume culvert out of cinder locks laid side by side with the holes parallel to the ground and then covered by landscape fabric covered by a foot and a half of dirt?

I used rock loosely placed and covered that with landscape fabric for a drainage ditch. It tended to ice up and stop the flow in the winter. I finally put in a 20" corrugated pvc culvert. Much better, always open.

I do like that cement block surface for driving on- while the water runs over it!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Unless alignment stays perfect, you will get a debris-trapping ledge every 8 inches. And even a handfull of leaves could plug a hole. OK for a walking path, but not a drive-on culvert system.

Try them this way.

View attachment 399797

Bruce

That looks like a very expensive crossing. At about $2 each block to get a 10 foot wide road surface would cost more than $20 per foot of road. A large culvert would be much cheaper to install.

 

[RalphVa]

****! Wish I'd thought of that for my little drive-over bridge I built back in 2004. Instead I just slapped about a half dozen 3 or 3 1/2" PVC pipes underneath. These work but occasionally need some blowing (with an air line off a little tank I have) to clear of spring silt that dumps into their openings. Same would happen with the concrete blocks, but they would give me a lot more throughways for the water to flow through.

The blocks might be a bit weak for side force, but 3 or 4 inches of dirt on top them would likely distribute the force evenly enough to not have a sideway breakthrough.

Ralph

 

[boggen]

Has anyone ever tried making.a low volume culvert out of cinder locks laid side by side with the holes parallel to the ground and then covered by landscape fabric covered by a foot and a half of dirt?

if you have 1.5 feet of dirt on top, then you should have more than enough working room to put in a generic culvert. menards / lowes / homedepot / other local stores should sell them in 20 foot sections. any were from 4" to 24" in diameter.

concrete blocks sounds like a plugged up mess to me. and in short order after a few crossings broken concrete blocks, and money wasted.

 

[dieselcrawler]

The deciding factor may be that the blocks were already on hand and/or free vs having to buy the proper culvert pipe...

Over time they will plug up... culvert pipe would be better, but if you are making use of free matetials, your plan has some merit. I would try it... better than nothing.

 

[MikeInEburg]

Instead, I would put gravel down and ford thru the water to cross. This is a time - tested method for crossing streams. Of course, your vehicle may not have quite the traction as a horse.

 

[jb92563]

Those blocks will likely settle at slightly different rates and angles and you would end up with misaligned holes, gaps, ridges etc resulting in reduced flow or silted up channels.

Small culverts is a much better, longer lasting alternative.

I also like the idea of the slight depression and laying down rock and gravel so the water can drain on the surface. Maintenance free!

 

[Moves]

Thanks all for your replies.... I actually only expected great advice but actually found someone who't tried it and PM'd it as a no-go!
I'm on to poly-pipe now...
This is a great forum!

 

[franklin2]

Too bad people relate good info through the pm system. I have people try to pm me in other forums sometimes for info, and I try to explain to them that answering in the forum is the way to do it, so everyone can see the good ideas and info. The pm system is for things you do not want everyone else to see and know about.

 

[Djames55]

Deleted...

 

[ZAR2USA]

This works well. Self build.

 

[ZAR2USA]

During heavy rains water flows over it, while still providing a solid surface to drive over.

Rest of the year, slow but steady stream flows underneath through the culverts.

 

[BHD]

I have placed 6 inch plastic PVC sewer pipe under a few drive ways and it has stood up well on one that was very near the surface I put old RR ties on both sides of it to help support it, and it has been there now 20 years,

and I would doubt that the PVC would be any more expensive than the block would be,

 

[EddieWalker]

Sounds like a lot of money and effort for something that will fail pretty quickly. The soil under the blocks will move regardless of house flat and smooth you make it. Then each gap between each block will catch sediment that will build up in time until the openings are completely blocked. Even if you had all the blocks and they where free, it's not worth the time and effort to put into doing it with such a high degree of failure in a very short amount of time.

Buy a proper culvert and do it once. Then enjoy the rest of your life doing other things and not having to mess with it again.

Eddie

 

[Moves]

Finished. Thanks for the advice, gents.
Of note, some sort of wild animal has decided to crap on it every few days or so.... what's up with that???

 

[boggen]

Finished. Thanks for the advice, gents.
Of note, some sort of wild animal has decided to crap on it every few days or so.... what's up with that???

nice work!, sounds about right with the animals

 

[ZAR2USA]

Is that Polyethylene pipe? If so, I like it much more than the galvanized steel pipes. Looks like it will work well.