Need to bridge or culvert a creek on my property

"What does the county have to do with it?
It's on private property isn't it?"

LOL. What country/planet have YOU been living on? Seriously, a "creek" is just a drainage of the land into a larger body of water (river, lake). At least here in Michigan, the Counties have "Drain Commissions" that have jurisdiction over these "drains". You can't fill them, dump into them (even just water from a driveway or sump pump), or put a crossing in them without a permit from the County Drain Commission (couple hundred dollars).

Yes, it IS private property but over the years our government at all levels (local, state, federal) has seen fit to extend control over our daily lives believing that a) they know best what's good for us and b) we may do something HARMFUL to the environment, like fill in a mud puddle that they would classify a "wetland".

The truth of the matter is that most of us who own rural property understand, appreciate and value the protection of it more than the beauracrats.

And it's not just in Michigan. Some states may be stricter than others, but my brother's place in Texas had a very large "ditch" running through it and that was drainage that went into Navarro Mills Lake, so yep, there were some restrictions, especially since Navarro Mills Lake also provided our water supply.

I'm looking at doing the same thing however I'm thinking about a mobile home frame or a old flatbed trailer frame and anchoring it down.

New member; first post. I stumbled across this site while searching for different methods of fencing across a creek.

Last year I bought a plastic culvert, 48" dia x 20' long, approx $1000.

Previously, I drove around onto the neighbor's property once or twice a year. This spring, however, I've opened an off-leash dog park and need to make much more regular trips to the far side as well as giving good access to the far side for dog park customers who may not be so good at jumping a stream.

When I first moved here 20 yrs ago, I tried driving the tractor across the creek. That was a mistake. Fortunately my neighbor happened along with his much larger tractor and pulled me out. Nice neighbor! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Also put in a garden this year, 25' x 50' in a space between the two dog areas (large dog/small dog). Hoping to sell some produce to dog park customers...

Tod in Ohio

Welcome Todd. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Wish you success in your culvert project. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Egon

Thanks for the welcome, Egon! I've been to your lovely province several times; it's beautiful and the people have always been very hospitable. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by riant

Wow. Thanks you guys for all the input. The county here(Genesee) pretty much dictated the spec-54"minimum 22' culvert($2000) A good culvert would be perfect, but total material runs around $5k. That's why I'm looking for other ideas. I want to be able to pull trailers of green firewood over it with a small tractor. Timber trusses? "covered bridge"?

---

riant, can you go with two smaller culverts instead of one big one? Like two $400 42", should be more capacity than one big one. That's what I'd do if I could.

Good luck.

I do not know the cost, but, I have seen and heard of old railroad cars being used for bridges. Something to think about.....

How about a concrete box culvert? Might take 2 of them but still would be as cheap or cheaper than a galvanized metal one. I've seen them used in alot of cluvert replacements and seem to last much better due to their large box and heavy weight.

one thing we have here in australia is loads of old tyres, long lasting (dont disintergrate, rust) and they have a giant hole lin the middle =) chain them together so theyre like logs going with the flow of the water and secure them, also the ridges make .good habitat for animals

or you could try the chain and whinch method, much dirtier but easy. put a chain to a pulley (usually an old wheel without tire) mounted to the hub of your back wheel, run the chain or wire underneath your front axle then drive though. the chain pulls you though so you dont need traction on the bottom of the creek and up the other side

as for rules and regulations, everyone owns land, there is no free land anymore even if you have the deeds to a peice of land its hard to say that its really yours. the creek we have starts on our property and thus in the eyes of the law belongs to us we can dam it on out land and let water go when we want, we also have access to other properties for very little reason to inspect.