Seasonal Creek Crossing Suggestions

[LarryBud]

Hello All,

I have a farm road / trail that provides access to the South end of my property. It crosses a wet weather creek which is really a just drainage ditch from the hay field but it drains 4-5 acres and will flow when we get and significant rainfall. The soil in my parts is pretty much black dirt, hardly a rock to be found on the place.

We finally had a some rain these past few weeks and the crossing is impassable and puddled up from the previous owner rutting it up.

Any suggestions on the easiest / cheapest way to get my L3130 or zero turn mower to the other side? I'll want to get there in all kind of weather. I'm sure many have had a similar challenge.

Thanks

LB

 

[mikester]

Old culverts? Not enough info i.e. size of swail, amount of flow,...

 

[LarryBud]

Old culverts? Not enough info i.e. size of swail, amount of flow,...

I'll need to span 10-12' to stay on terra firma. I'm not sure of the flow as it depends on the rainfall. It will only flow when it rains enough for the hayfield to provide runoff. We get our fair share of TStorms so I expect it to be a regular occurance.

I have a tooth bar on my FEL. Can I dig a trench once it drys out, drop a culvert in and cover it up with dirt and call it good? It seems too easy.

Sorry for the rookie questions but I'm new to this game.

 

[D2Cat]

Find an old truck bed or trailer house frame and lay across it for a roadway.

 

[vanhanz]

Also see if someone nearby is selling old telephone poles, lay them across the gap and nail boards across the other direction to make a bridge. Pile up dirt or rocks at each end to make a ramp. Make sure you anchor it too.

 

[vanhanz]

I'll need to span 10-12' to stay on terra firma. I'm not sure of the flow as it depends on the rainfall. It will only flow when it rains enough for the hayfield to provide runoff. We get our fair share of TStorms so I expect it to be a regular occurance.

I have a tooth bar on my FEL. Can I dig a trench once it drys out, drop a culvert in and cover it up with dirt and call it good? It seems too easy.

Sorry for the rookie questions but I'm new to this game.

You can do that too, however they may wash out. When I bought my property there was a culvert in the creek and you can see upstream the path where it used to be by the path that was cut out around both sides of the creek. It may work but there is a good chance it will wash out if it rains a lot.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

You can size a culvert, be generous: I've used an on-line source (try Google). You'll need the drainage area (I used the Google Earth tool to calculate the acreage by outlining the high point of the drainage area). Then, based on your local conditions of rainfall, soil and terrain, it'll tell you the size needed. I'd upsize it, and under no conditions go smaller than 12 or 15 inches. Also, be generous on the length so you can slope the ground over the ends of the culvert.

 

[mikester]

I'll need to span 10-12' to stay on terra firma. I'm not sure of the flow as it depends on the rainfall. It will only flow when it rains enough for the hayfield to provide runoff. We get our fair share of TStorms so I expect it to be a regular occurance.

I have a tooth bar on my FEL. Can I dig a trench once it drys out, drop a culvert in and cover it up with dirt and call it good? It seems too easy.

Sorry for the rookie questions but I'm new to this game.

That'll work! You might want gravel for fill if your subsoil gets muddy.

 

[nbryan]

There's an access path/road near our house that does this. When it's wet weather it starts to run water over the surface, and crossing with a vehicle makes a mess. My plan is to trench in a 4" abs culvert across the path. About 1/4" per foot slope. The upper end I'm going to create a small dugout/pond that the end of the pipe sits in, and put a 90 degree elbow swivel on it with a piece of pipe pointing up, cut to the height of maximum water level in the pond. The pond fills, and falls straight down the open end into the culvert and out under the backfilled path. Aerates the flowing water too.
The swivel allows for rapid draining or level control of the pond. Just tilt the vertical pipe so the open end lowers to the desired level. The pond will drain to that level and stop.
A big advantage of the vertical drain pipe is there's never a way for it to get plugged by debris. Debris just bumps against the sides of the pipe and can't fall in.
I'm planning to start within a few weeks here as soon as the ground thaws, and get the BH77 busy ponding, swaling and trenching. For too many years that seasonal stream crossing has been a mess!

 

[Magicman]

I had a very similar situation and solved it with old culverts laid on top of the ground which were then covered with dirt.

This was done last June and now has a rainy season behind it so the fix was successful.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

get an 1" of rain and 4-5 acres will be a LOT of 'runoff '! you should 'do the math', but I'd probably dig and 'V' the 'streambed' to divert water to the center, then toss 3 or 4 , 12" culverts in a group there. Add rock all around to be sure water goes THROUGH the culverts.Spend the time ONCE to do it right, then enjoy using it all year long for a great many years. be sure to add rock/fill as required, seasonally. Be SURE to get rid of ANY branches blocking the inlets too, check after any rainstorms, especially big ones.
The day you dont check......well, you'll wish you had checked !!

 

[Magicman]

Mine is actually two culverts in one location and one in two other places for a total of 4 culverts. All of the runoff was on the surface with no actual "stream bed" so I picked the lowest and wettest locations to place the culverts.

I turned a muddy mess into a high and dry situation. I have another similar wet spot that I will tackle this Summer in the same manner.

 

[LarryBud]

Lots of great feedback. This Forum is awesome as I'm a big believer in learning from the mistakes of others, not that any of you have ever made one. Lord knows I make plenty.

I'll be on the lookout for some old culvert pipes and try to calculate just how much culvert I need. Looks like a good summer project if I can find the needed materials.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

FYI culvert sections are usually 20' long.
If cut in half, you'll get a usable 9' wide crossing, providing you have straight on approach.
I'd probably get 2-20's, make it 4 wide.

some numbers... pretty sure they're right,other can check
1 acre is 43,560 square feet
1" of rain on 4 acres is about 14,520 cubic feet of water or 90,700+ Cdn gallons.
a 12" culvert can pass about 3/4 of a sq foot of water, so 4 sections can pass 3 cuft
each section holds about 15 cuft, so 4 hold 60cuft, so at 60cuft per minute, it'd take 242 minutes to pass all the water.
this is if all is 'runoff' (worst case)

 

[MuttCat]

You may find this useful, https://www.usgs.gov/centers/lmg-wa...ce_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

And know...some states and the USACOE regulates stuff you won't believe. Check into what gubermint entities might have jurisdiction over your activities. Penalties for water quality violations can be very expensive. Lastly, a single squashed pipe would be preferable to dual pipes.

Just saying.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: Lastly, a single squashed pipe would be preferable to dual pipes.

Please explain why ?? as 2 pipes = 2x the water flow capability

 

[Magicman]

My culverts shown above was a 30' that I cut into three 10's with a cutoff blade on my skilsaw. The 4th culvert was a section of 8" PVC. After a downpour the heavy runoff still goes over the road, but that was never the problem. The culverts eliminated the wet swampy spots which were the ongoing issues.

 

[Lil Foot]

re: Lastly, a single squashed pipe would be preferable to dual pipes.

For me, it was a few reasons.
One squashed pipe was cheaper than two round ones of similar flow.
The squashed pipe was not as tall, requiring less material to raise the driveway to cover it.
The squashed pipe flows more water at 1/2 full or less than a round one of the same size. (above half full, the flow rates are virtually the same)
The pipe vendor modeled it on the computer to show me.

 

[Lil Foot]

Oops, forgot the pics:

 

[Magicman]

That is very professionally done sir.