HawkinsHollow
Veteran Member
When I bought my property 5 years ago it became very obvious if I wanted to reach the other side of my pond I was going to need to make a bridge or culvert over the ditch that feeds the pond. For 8 months out of the year (12 in wet years) navigating the swamp to cross this small ditch is difficult at best. I have been across it twice, both in rented machines and both times were almost a disaster. The ditch is not deep, but deep enough and often times full of water. It was time to do it right!
I had originally thought about making a bridge out of free I-beams I got from a friend, but then got my hands on a cheap 18" reinforced concrete pipe ($100). It seemed to me that dropping a pipe in a hole and coving it with dirt would be easier. The culvert location is 1/3 of a mile from the barn down a steep hill and along a trail. Bobby Branson handled the pipe shuttle no problemo. I am estimating this pipe to be in the 1800 lb range (I could be wrong though).
My dirt pile was also up near the barn. So I had to shuttle the dirt from this location down to the culvert 1 bucket at a time. Took about 8 trips. The culvert is not completely finished yet. Plan on putting a concrete apron on the front of it which will allow me to backfill right to the edge of the front, and keep the dirt from washing out around the pipe. But honestly water coming through here is not moving with tons of energy so I am not worried about it getting washed out.
Sorry, having issues upload pictures of the final product, but I am sure you can imagine what it looks like. Excited to gain easy access to that side of the pond. Not much over there yet (due to limited access). I have plans on renting a mini ex and cleaning up that side and cutting a road into the hillside, eventually putting in another access up the draw to the top of the ridge.
Feels good to FINALLY get this project done.
I had originally thought about making a bridge out of free I-beams I got from a friend, but then got my hands on a cheap 18" reinforced concrete pipe ($100). It seemed to me that dropping a pipe in a hole and coving it with dirt would be easier. The culvert location is 1/3 of a mile from the barn down a steep hill and along a trail. Bobby Branson handled the pipe shuttle no problemo. I am estimating this pipe to be in the 1800 lb range (I could be wrong though).
My dirt pile was also up near the barn. So I had to shuttle the dirt from this location down to the culvert 1 bucket at a time. Took about 8 trips. The culvert is not completely finished yet. Plan on putting a concrete apron on the front of it which will allow me to backfill right to the edge of the front, and keep the dirt from washing out around the pipe. But honestly water coming through here is not moving with tons of energy so I am not worried about it getting washed out.
Sorry, having issues upload pictures of the final product, but I am sure you can imagine what it looks like. Excited to gain easy access to that side of the pond. Not much over there yet (due to limited access). I have plans on renting a mini ex and cleaning up that side and cutting a road into the hillside, eventually putting in another access up the draw to the top of the ridge.
Feels good to FINALLY get this project done.
