Culvert bridge caved in..Help!!
Ops
order
to smooth out a fairly severe dip. Once finished, I drove over the
thing many
times with my F250 and later had to pull a 7,000 lb trailer over the
thing...
No problems!! Everything held up fine. Then we get three heavy days of
rain
and dumb-ass me decides I need another 14 ton of rock for another
project.
Well, the truck at 48,000 lbs got too far over to one side of the
culvert and away
it went....truck and all!! Luckily the Kenworth managed to stay on all
wheels...Barely!! Well, a wrecker was called in and was able to get the
truck
unstuck but now my culvert is in pretty sad shape... The ground was just
too damn
soft from all the rain and I should never have had the rock delivered in
the first
place. Anyway, when I go to rebuild it I was wondering if anyone here
could
suggest the best approach to re-building a much more sturdy bridge. The
bridge
consisted of a granite base then layers of pit run and then many layers
of 5/8"
crushed rock. The road bridge is about 12 feet wide and has a 16'
galvanized
drain pipe that runs across the center... The drain pipe was not
damaged!!
This time around I want to shore up the sides but am wondering if I
should use
large boulders stacked upon one another or since I have gobs of trees
available,
could I use large logs stacked and spiked to one another to build up a
wall.
Or, what I'm pondering the most is digging post holes and dropping 3"
steel pipe
into the holes and then filling with concrete. I suppose I'd space the
poles about
36" to 48" OC's?? Then, stacking logs of similar diameters between the
poles and
road bridge and lastly backfill with large 1 1/4" to 2" rock.... Ahh, I
dunno!!
The land bridge culvert or whatever they are called is used for main
access to our
seasonal lake cottage so normally only sees weekend useage.... Any
ideas??
PS. I don't have access to any heavy earth moving equipment for at
least a few weeks out and I have to get the bridge repaired pronto so
all work is going to be done
manually.... Oh what fun!! ... Suggestions??
Thanks,
Todd
Sacheen Lake, WA.
ben williams
walls just short of the pipe ends and run rebar ties thru the dirt so they
can't spread. Probably cheaper and longer-lasting in the long run....
ben
"Ops" <twil...@avistacorp.com> wrote in message
news:3AEDF7D5...@avistacorp.com...
Jerry & Kathleen Crawford
I'll be looking for an answer to this, too. My brother looses his drive
every other year to a swift Spring stream. He even drilled, inserted rebar,
and concreted large rocks on either side of the pipes (four) and crushed
rock over all. The next heavy storm took the whole thing downstream. I
think he's going to have to go with the three-foot diameter drains or a huge
bridge of some sort. This is the drive to his permanent residence, so he
HAS to come up with something soon!
Kathleen
"Ops" <twil...@avistacorp.com> wrote in message
news:3AEDF7D5...@avistacorp.com...
John Gilmer
"Jerry & Kathleen Crawford" <sbf...@gte.net> wrote in message
news:duqH6.1932$Ch5.3...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...
> Hi, Todd!
> I'll be looking for an answer to this, too. My brother looses his
drive
> every other year to a swift Spring stream. He even drilled, inserted
rebar,
> and concreted large rocks on either side of the pipes (four) and crushed
> rock over all. The next heavy storm took the whole thing downstream. I
> think he's going to have to go with the three-foot diameter drains or a
huge
> bridge of some sort. This is the drive to his permanent residence, so he
> HAS to come up with something soon!
Back when I was in the Army Enginners the point was made (and made) that if
you put it a culvert, put in a good head wall and tail wall.
When you have lots of water to the point where the pipes nearly fill, your
road temporarily become a dam. But it wasn't designed as a dam!
The primary cause of dam failure is inadequate spillway capacity. Your
culvert system has to have sufficient capacity to handdle the peak water
load. If you just can't put in enough culvert capacity you have to find a
path for the water that doesn't wash our your road.
You can try putting in a ford near the culverts that will let the excess
water pass without washing out your main culvert. You can keep a crushed
rock supply nearby to quickly repair erosion to your ford after a storm.
Larry Caldwell
writes:
> I'll be looking for an answer to this, too. My brother looses his drive
> every other year to a swift Spring stream. He even drilled, inserted rebar,
> and concreted large rocks on either side of the pipes (four) and crushed
> rock over all. The next heavy storm took the whole thing downstream. I
> think he's going to have to go with the three-foot diameter drains or a huge
> bridge of some sort. This is the drive to his permanent residence, so he
> HAS to come up with something soon!
Culverts never last except across very minor water runoff. If your
brother wants a permanent bridge, have him buy an old railroad flatcar.
Railroads are phasing out the old short cars in favor of the new 90'
cars, so you can buy a flatcar minus trucks for scrap prices. He just
needs to pour concrete abutments on either side of the stream and flop it
on.
I have a neighbor who wanted an attractive driveway, so he welded
decorative rail to the sides and capped the bed with a 6" reinforced
concrete slab. It's very attractive the way he finished it out.
--
You don't have much to say about the length
of your life, but you have a lot to say
about the breadth and depth.
Derek R. Larson
John Gilmer <gil...@crosslink.net> wrote:
>
>Back when I was in the Army Enginners the point was made (and made) that if
>you put it a culvert, put in a good head wall and tail wall.
>
>When you have lots of water to the point where the pipes nearly fill, your
>road temporarily become a dam. But it wasn't designed as a dam!
>
>The primary cause of dam failure is inadequate spillway capacity. Your
>culvert system has to have sufficient capacity to handdle the peak water
>load. If you just can't put in enough culvert capacity you have to find a
>path for the water that doesn't wash our your road.
Our cabin in NE Oregon is at about 5,000' and sits below enough mountains
that snowmelt means big runoff in the spring. It's in a small
"development" of about 20 cabins in a valley and the other road that's
passable 9 months of the year crosses a creek just before the first cabin.
Every year the culvert washed out at least once (inc. over New Year's in
1996; my wife and I got in as the water was running over the top, by
morning it was gone) for the past decades or so. Finally in '98 they
stopped just replacing the culvert and put in a much larger one (it's
probably 5' now) and faced both upstream and downstream in concrete. The
old culvert could handle the flow, but would get blocked by ice or limbs
and then wash out; the new one is designed so that when it gets blocked
the water just goes over the top *without* washing away the face (and
eventually the whole thing). It's not washed out in three years now.
-drl
--
________________________________________________________________________
Derek R. Larson Indiana University Dept. of History
"Let me go on record as stating that Mountain Dew, although a refreshing
and enjoyable beverage, is NOT A CONTRACEPTIVE." -Ann Landers
Ops
plywood
and pipe/rebar combo would you go??
Thanks,
Todd
Ops
culvert that doesn't have a drainage problem. My collapse of the bridgeway
was due to heavy rains soaking the soil and making things so soft that when
a dump truck drove over it, the trucks wheels just sank into the gravel and
eventually
caved in one side of culvert. The first respondent mentioned bracing with
poles,
rebar and plywood which sounds perfectly feasible but instead of plywood
could I use logs since I have gobs of trees that need to be felled anyway....
Thanks,
Todd
John Gilmer
"Ops" <twil...@icehouse.net> wrote in message
news:3AEF07C0...@icehouse.net...
> What would you suggest would be the best approach to strengthen a
> culvert that doesn't have a drainage problem. My collapse of the
bridgeway
> was due to heavy rains soaking the soil and making things so soft that
when
> a dump truck drove over it, the trucks wheels just sank into the gravel
and
> eventually
> caved in one side of culvert. The first respondent mentioned bracing with
> poles,
> rebar and plywood which sounds perfectly feasible but instead of plywood
> could I use logs since I have gobs of trees that need to be felled
anyway....
If you have sufficient culvert capacity, the road bed will still be able to
drain.
If you have a problem with heavy rains, things that can help are 1) water
proofing the road surface, 2) installing drains under the road to keep the
soil relatively dry.
I suspect that your fill has a lot of clay. Clay is nice in that it lets
you make a nice hard road and the soil can be placed easily as it stays in
place. Problem with clay is that it loses it strength when it gets wet.
So: Consider making the grades leading to the road having a slope no
greater than dry sand can be sloped. Make as much of the fill select
material (gravel, rocks, and sand) as you can afford. Place your fill in
relatively thin layers (4" or less) and compact before adding more material.
Avoid using clay type material which will keep the soil from draining.
Don't forget the head wall and extend it out.
I understand that this is a private road and you have to make compromises
based on economics. The cheapest thing you can do is MAINTAIN the culvert
system by ensuring that the inlets are clear. Try to keep the road surface
crowned so that water runs off, etc.
Consider looking for a ford which will allow you to get over the water after
the storm has gone but the culvert system hasn't been fixed.
ben williams
Optimally the face of the walls will be flush with ends of the culvert,
trenched into the bank maybe 6", and stand 6" above the top of the roadbed.
The rebar in the walls is, of course, for strength. The tie bars, thru the
roadbed, would be tied into the wall rebar to prevent wall spreading.
Concrete isn't that expensive (around here anyway) and would make a
'lifetime' road access.
ben
"Ops" <twil...@icehouse.net> wrote in message
news:3AEF044C...@icehouse.net...
Jerry & Kathleen Crawford
This is a silly little stream that is shallow enough to wade through
most of the year. During the Spring rains the thing rises probably ten feet
and is impassable. And extremely swift. Some of his neighbors have built
what look like covered bridges and three to five-foot drains. The water has
washed away bridges and runs over the five-foot drains.
In order for him to have a path to the road, it is beginning to look
like he's going to need at least 100 to 150 feet of bridge built over ten
feet high. Or just not go to work/school for a several days every year.
Access probably wasn't an issue in 1750 when the house was built.
This stream runs along the bottom of a hill (main road on top of hill,
house on rise below it). Kentucky Bluegrass hills.
Kathleen
"John Gilmer" <gil...@crosslink.net> wrote in message
news:3aeeb436$0$49...@dingus.crosslink.net...
Ops
think
I'll start plannin' on forming up the bugger soon as it dries out a tad.
Ops
about 8" deep days before the collapse. It may have been strong enough
for my truck and trailer but once soaked it was no match for a 48,000 pound
rig. The layer under the new surface is very hard & compact but it wasn't me
who
built it up and instead was a friend/contractor who knew what he was doing
unlike
myself. Is their a general structural rule as the the ratios of gravel, sand &
rock
to use for best results??
Thanks,
Todd
John Gilmer
> My downfall may have been because I layed 14 tons of that 5/8" rock
> about 8" deep days before the collapse. It may have been strong enough
> for my truck and trailer but once soaked it was no match for a 48,000
pound
> rig. The layer under the new surface is very hard & compact but it wasn't
me
> who
> built it up and instead was a friend/contractor who knew what he was doing
> unlike
> myself. Is their a general structural rule as the the ratios of gravel,
sand &
> rock
> to use for best results??
There is no set rule. The idea is to have a mixture of big, medium, and
small stuff to minimize voids and thus leave no room for the very small
stuff to settle down.
In a way you are designing a concrete mix without the portland cement. So,
for a start try the 1,2,3 rule but substitute ordinary soil for the portland
cement, add 2 parts (volumn) gravel and mediums and three parts rock.