Culvert maintenance?

[paulsharvey]

Maybe a small loose rock ditch block every 100 ft, if you have rocks around. I dont mean gravel, I mean soft ball to head sized.

 

[oosik]

Around here the highway dept will put straw bales in their roadside drainage ditches. Every 75 to 100 feet and they will be staked in the ditch.

I guess its easier to muck out the roadside ditch than clean out a culvert.

I've watched them clean out culverts. High pressure water - wide spray nozzle. Mounted on a small cart. Clump - clump - clump down the corrugated culvert. Wild torrent of mud, rocks and water coming out the far end.

 

[ponytug]

Those type of soils very well might be erosion prone. I think you mentioned a fair bit of rock in your area; you can dry stack maybe 6-8" of rock across your ditches, think mini, loose rock 'dams' or ditch blocks, that will slow the velocity a bit, but also catch heavy sediment, for future clean up, at an easier place than in the pipe.

I much prefer to use a solid item, securely anchored, and I mean really securely anchored, perpendicular to the water flow 3-8' before the culvert. However, expect the water to spread as it hits the bar, so make sure that the bar is sufficiently wide not to be eroded around, and strong enough to take the flash floods from your monsoons.

In the high desert, I think it is impossible to make a drainage culvert too big. One good cell can generate a substantial debris flow, and "drainage" culverts are going to be way, way too small.
High desert:

Others

@In.the.Piñons I do think that you might be overthinking this. Irrigation ditches, especially low tech / low capital ones, will always need some amount of maintenance, and having sediment accumulate close to access is easier to move. You now know where sediment appears, and all that is needed is to stay on top of it.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Silt fence is the black woven fabric with attached wooden stakes you see every where on construction projects. It's designed to allow water to flow through, but capture larger sediment (sand, some silt), but it doesn't prevent turbity very well, and clay particles are too small to capture well. It is Not a permanent product, it's suppost to last 12 months or so, but I'm thinking 8-12 ft across the ditch, maybe 20 ft upstream, would work for you.

I think you're severely overestimating my puny irrigation ditch. It was 24 inches wide after the last clean-out, but that was about 10 years ago.

Since then the grass has made it narrower, but the gravely and somewhat rocky bottom at this part of it tends to stay as intended.

There's a 2x6 in that gate, and you may be able to see that the water drops maybe two inches behind it...and behind that is the mound.

Basically, I'd need two feet of silt fence, if that, and if it were to plug up the water would not go to the best place possible, but end up in a pasture.

 

[paulsharvey]

Yes, Kubota, I was picturing a 4-6 ft deep, 8-10 ft wide, canal basically, which is common east of here in potatoe/cabbage territory.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Nope, there's only a 100' section that isn't 24" (or less) wide.

That one looked like a mini grand canyon because of the elevation drop of over two feet in that distance. I filled that one in then dug it out to become straight and maybe 10' wide.

Put a culvert in at a somewhat severe angle (had to lose altitude) followed by large rocks to slow it all down again.

All that was because at some point they had bypassed a long, near complete circle, and then ran the ditch in a straight shortcut. Also heavily mutilated by cows.

Once I bought that land from the neighbor I could fix several wrongs.

 

[dougtrr2]

I am a pessimist and a believer in Murphy's law. I would be afraid to try to pull something through a culvert that would completely clean it in one pass. My luck would be the chain/cable would break or the tire would fail halfway through. Then how do you clear it? I would use something smaller with pull chain/cable attached to both sides so it could be pulled back if it hung up.

Again, I have never cleaned a culvert, but you never see examples of it not working.

Doug in SW IA

 

[Mtsoxfan]

What I have done, copying someone else, is to build 3 rock dams before my driveway culvert, a few feet apart. Stops water, silt/soil sinks to bottom, and cleaner water will continue to the next. Besides the torrential downpour/flooding we have experienced the past 2 years, I only have to clean out once per year. I use the harvested sandy road soil to fill in low spots on my "logging" trails.
I try to keep the outlet clear as well, once I discovered soil build up there. The entrance has always been clean as a whistle...

 

[CADplans]

I installed 4 culverts six years ago,,
the inside of each culvert is spotless,, zero,, hardly even dust,,,

I did get carried away with the entrance of each ,,,

That concrete thing is on a slope,,
it accelerates the water so fast, the water is flying when it enters the pipe.

A leaf does not stand a chance!!

 

[bcp]

I have a steep 10 inch concrete culvert under the driveway. It has never clogged internally, except... The outflow area was a much flatter slope. The water slowing after leaving the culvert dropped sediment, eventually backing up into the culvert.

A 2nd hand store had an 8ft length of 8 inch pvc pipe. Cut in half lengthways and joined, it made a long, slick half-round outflow channel.

The silt still backs up, but it is now far away from the culvert and easy to shovel out in a few minutes once a year.



Bruce

 

[ponytug]

I use a pressure washer and one of the sewer jet, like this one;

Amazon.com

But mostly I try to settle / screen debris out first.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Grass, grass, everywhere this year.

Anyway, this is the exit of the steeply sloped culvert, about 1/4 mile upstream of the problematic one and where the ditch is indeed wide.

If only I could have all of them flow like this.

 

[In.the.Piñons]

Those type of soils very well might be erosion prone. I think you mentioned a fair bit of rock in your area; you can dry stack maybe 6-8" of rock across your ditches, think mini, loose rock 'dams' or ditch blocks, that will slow the velocity a bit, but also catch heavy sediment, for future clean up, at an easier place than in the pipe.

Yeah, our soil is erosion prone. The larger culverts allow the road to cross a big wash that runs through the property. The wash is about 20ft wide and 6ft deep. Most of the rock on our place seems to be mostly one big slab of rock rather than loose rocks that would be useful for the project you mention.

Anyway, before I can even consider such an undertaking I need a tractor!

 

[In.the.Piñons]

I use a pressure washer and one of the sewer jet, like this one;

Amazon.com

But mostly I try to settle / screen debris out first.

All the best,

Peter

I have a similar setup that I use to unclog our downspouts. Figured it might come in handy for clearing the smaller culverts so I spend the $$ to get a pressure washer that works with a static water source.

 

[paulsharvey]

Once you get your machine, ditch blocks in a desert environment also serve the additional purpose of keeping the water longer, which allows more veg to grow around your ditches, which in turn helps reduce erosion. BTW, there are many many ways to create a ditch block; from some CMU concrete blocks, PT2x12s, rail road ties, rocks, clay berm, concrete, to concrete lined ditches with disappator blocks.

 

[newbury]

I am a pessimist and a believer in Murphy's law. I would be afraid to try to pull something through a culvert that would completely clean it in one pass.

I agree, I'd put a chain on the other side, long enough and strong enough to pull it back out.

 

[CADplans]

Rather than chain,, I would put a synthetic rope through
!) cheaper
2) less chance of being stolen
3) will not rust away
4) it is strong enough to pull a chain through should the need arise.

Why put a $150 chain through,, to attract the guy that needs it for his truck??

I just bought 200 feet of the synthetic rope used to pull power lines.
I paid $40 for 200 feet

I could not stand the thought of that chain rusting away,,

 

[In.the.Piñons]

Rather than chain,, I would put a synthetic rope through
!) cheaper
2) less chance of being stolen
3) will not rust away
4) it is strong enough to pull a chain through should the need arise.

Why put a $150 chain through,, to attract the guy that needs it for his truck??

I just bought 200 feet of the synthetic rope used to pull power lines.
I paid $40 for 200 feet

I could not stand the thought of that chain rusting away,,

How does that synthetic line hold up to the UV light? UV light can be pretty brutal here in Colorado. Yeah I know most of the line would be in the shade of the culvert, but the ends would be in the sun unless you put them in PVC pipe or something. I don't need to worry about theft or rust... at least I don't think a galvanized chain would rust since my culverts are dry most of the time. I guess in winter they might be wet from the snow.

Synth line would be cheaper to try out at any rate and cheaper is good!