culvert screen?

tree-farmer · May 20, 2018, 05:05:00 PM

Need some ideas on how to keep bits of laurel limbs and branchs from cloging culvert and washing out road.
We had abnormal rain in the past 5 days (13 plus inches, 6 at one go) in spite of regular checks, limbs clogged culvert an washed over road.
Thinking of rebar screen extendin out from culvert to catch debris, but woud still allow water to pass but keep limbs etc. Away ftom culvert mouth. Anyone ever done something like this?
Took 3 days of hauling big rocks and good fill to fix damage. Hope to get gravel on damaged area this week.
Joy of life on a mountain dirt road.

JV · May 20, 2018, 05:45:22 PM

Yes, for security purposes we had to put one across a 4 ft diameter culvert. We put a vertical frame on each side of the culvert mouth for the rebar to slide down. It had a fairly heavy frame to lift it back out for cleaning. Leaves, sticks, and grass can and will plug them. The smaller the culvert the bigger the problem. If the culvert is large enough, you might be able to make a cube with one end open. Put the open end next to the culvert mouth. When the upstream end plugs, and it will, the water could flow in around the top and sides of the box. It would need to be framed heavy enough to lift to clean. Other than oversizing the culvert, it's difficult to do with any success. Hopefully, someone else may have had better luck with another design.

mike_belben · May 20, 2018, 06:13:30 PM

Pallet racking deck mesh. Its perfect for that. Just cut to shape and fencewire it through some holes in the culvert lip so it doesnt blow over. Take 10 minutes

WV Sawmiller · May 20, 2018, 06:26:10 PM

Good luck but remember if the culvert is already getting clogged how much worse will it be when you put additional material in the mouth of the culvert to catch even smaller pieces? My fences and the storm drain cover in front of my drive catch small limbs and big leaves which create dams that block the drainage. In the case of the fences if they get enough weight they get washed out. With the storm drain it blocks and floods the road and even my nearby barn if I am not there to open it in time.

I would only put it up if a security concern or needed to keep livestock in the field.

If you do put rebar or such up I'd make sure to run it all parallel to the ground to allow sure small stuff to pass through and do hinge it so you can lift for cleaning. I'd suggest large rebar and 4-6 inches apart if possible. Putting vertical reinforcements may make it stronger but will certainly catch more debris.

jdonovan · May 20, 2018, 07:04:06 PM

Ideally you want a screen that is not vertical. Something on a 30-45 degree angle, so that light, floating debris can ride up the screen while water flows under the debris.

If you put a vertical screen in debris can get stuck against it and form a dam that blocks the water flow and you'll be right back to the problem you have now.

inadditon to a screen , Another tactic that might be possible depending on the approaches to where the culvert is located is creating a flood way. If the culvert crossing is the high point by say 2-3 feet, and then the approaches for 10-20' on either side are a bit lower. Then you create a situation that if the culvert is overwhelmed, the excess flow is 20-40 feet wide, and should be MUCH lower velocity, and therefore not wash away the gravel road surface.

Southside · May 20, 2018, 07:42:23 PM

Google a nifty idea called the "Beaver Deciever", basically it's a series of PVC pipes that extend past the end of the culvert which allow water into the culvert even when a very determined beaver plugs the hole up solid. Should work well in your scenario.

Don P · May 20, 2018, 09:04:37 PM

This has been an impressive bout of rain. Mine is how to move a truck sized rock that fell into the creek just in front of the 3' culvert. I think its going to be a jackhammer job.

rjwoelk · May 20, 2018, 10:05:15 PM

2x on the Beaver deciever , I was a thinking about it and south side was ahead of my thinkin.on e way also is to add a mesh screen rolled into a tube and extends 10 15 ft ahead of the culvert or several at angles.

mike_belben · May 20, 2018, 10:39:53 PM

I built a little rock wall right in front of my culvert in the creek bed, maybe a foot or two upstream of the culvert entrance. It raises the water level during rains and thus slows flow so that sands fall out of suspension and build up there. Every so often i take a few shovel scoops out for various uses. Hey, free washed sand. Theres not much other excitement around here.

If branches were to come down the line theyd hang up on the rock wall and not get inside the culvert. Its not very tall so in a downpour the water level just rises and flows over it like a spillway. Looks cute too.

LeeB · May 21, 2018, 10:33:33 AM

X2 on the angled, vertical sieve but I would use 2" pipe.

WV Sawmiller · May 21, 2018, 05:39:11 PM

Tree Farmer,

You hoodooed me by even starting this thread. We got a short, violent thunderstorm this afternoon. We were enjoying Blue Bloods till my wife heard boulders crashing as they rolled down the flooded creek in the front yard. Evidently they had a lot of rain upstream from us. The drain under the road stopped up and flooded the road, got in my log storage barn and covered the end of my drive. I grabbed my camera, took a few shots and grabbed a shovel and punched a hole in the debris blocking the culvert cover/strainer. It quickly drained the water off the road and stopped getting into my drive and barn. Its been like this ever since my neighbors moved in 10-15 years ago and put a drive in. Their drive routinely washes out and I don't know how many mufflers they have ripped off. They really need a bigger culvert based on what we saw today as a lot of the water was filling then by-passing it.

Overflowing my drive and into my barn

Past my barn and into the creek. This is right where Kermit normally sits.

This is the same spot where the water is coming in. I hope he is a good swimmer.

Water in the road - the drain is only a couple of feet up from my mailbox.

Flooding my barn.

Washing out my drive then into and around the log barn.

A couple minutes after I punched a hole in the drain, created a whirlpool which pulled the rest of the trash into and through it and immediately started draining the water out of the road.

Less than 5 minutes and the water is off the road - just gravel and trash left.

No longer running over my drive and into the log barn. I guess I need to take these pictures to my county commissioner and see what he can do. I am inconvenienced but others really are in danger. It's not going to get any better.

tree-farmer · May 21, 2018, 07:32:30 PM

Sorry WV Sawmiller, hate to hear you are having same problems. Though the old saying about missery loves company comes to mind. :

Based on the feedback, I have an idea for a pre strainer to go up stream of culvert, I will post pics and results as I go along. I appreciate all the feed back and ideas. It always amazes me how much knowledge and experence is on tap here.
Goes back to one of my favorite sayings,"none of us is as smart as all of us."
Now If it will just stay dry for a few days.....

tree-farmer · May 29, 2018, 03:29:59 PM

Ok here is what I came up with. Kind of rough, but hopeful it will keep limbs out of end of culvert. Figure if grates block up water can still pour over top and down drain.
Call in for 3" to 6" more rain on top of well over a foot in the past week. Should put it to the test. Keeping a close eye on it to be sure. Spent 3 day rebuilding what was torn out of road last time.

Crusarius · May 29, 2018, 04:38:26 PM

I think I would be sinking some very long poles into the ground on the corners. if you get debris buildup it will roll that cage up and defeat the purpose.

overall though I think you have a great concept and execution. love to know how it works.

tree-farmer · May 29, 2018, 05:29:14 PM

I have concerns about that, but the creek bed there is a solid rock slab. May try a masonary bit to put in anchors later on. The sides are sloped some to direct any obstruction force downward to some degree. I also went upstream cutting and clearing anything that had potential to fall into creek. Just saw on news since May 13 we have had over 17 inches of rain and several more on the way. This is steep terrain and that adds a lot of force to the water draining down hill. Done all I can do, the rest is up to mother nature.