Need to bridge or culvert a creek on my property

Hello All,
What a great site! I just ran across it & registered immediately. Help!
My current dilemma is how to get my tractor across the creek into the woods for firewood, mowing, etc. (Our 'new' neighbor will not let us use the access enjoyed by generations to cross the creek)
The banks are sloped about 50-60 degrees, with a 9' elevation down to the surface of the water. To get to frost depth for footings, the span needs to be 38'. If something could be just laid on the ground, it reduces the span to 30'+/-

You did not say how deep it is. But the less expensive way to do it is to cut the banks down and make some sort of ford where you can just drive across it. Culverts and brides can get expensive in a hurry.

It so nice to have such understanding new neighbors. Hope you get to return the favor soon.

Yeah, my wonderful neighbors....The creek is only 1-2 feet deep, maybe gets to 3'-4' in the Spring. The creekbed is very unstable; I wouldn't take my new Kubota in there....Anyway,the creek is at the rear of the backyard where it would be impossible to make any kind of cut. A 54" culvert, rip rap, sloped headwall, etc is required by the county; that's why I'm looking for something cheap n easy to bridge the creek. I thought maybe bridging it solid with used telephone poles and planking it with 3" roughsawn oak...

Well the telephone poles and planking would be my second recommendation. Not sure how much poles cost or if you could get by with used ones from the power company.

The danger of that setup is sliding of the sides. I think I would want some sort of side rails maybe railroad ties along each side to keep it (tractor) on the bridge.

On this one the span is such it may require some serious design considerations.

How will you you get the abutments in place on the other side of the creek?

Is there a possibility to drive H piles for the abutments?

The culvert may become cost effective when all factors are taken into consideration.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Personally, I'd probably go the culvert route. I put in a 42" culvert across a drainage creek 2 yrs ago. It replaced a wooden foot bridge so I could take tractors/trucks across the 15-20 wide creek. A 20' long 42" culvert cost me $400 by buying it through the County. Sand backfill and gravel topping cost another $400 or so. So I'd figure you're looking at somewhere around $1000 for material to do yours with a culvert.

For a bridge, I think the poles would work for occasional use traffic, but it may be a little "springy" for a 30' span. Of course, you can always stiffen it up by laying more poles. If you can't get poles, maybe just fell a few trees in your woods if you've plenty to spare A proper bridge with concrete abutment and steel I-beams would be cost prohibitive and probably convince you to go the culvert route.

If you use poles or trees, you'll probably end up with SOME maintenance over the years, but a culvert will require very, very little, if any at all.

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"?

Jim, Right you are! "Culverts and brides can get expensive in a hurry.

Bridges too get expensive but I think brides can be a front runner.

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Wow, 5 times the price I paid for a culvert that is just 12" bigger in diameter!! I checked with the place I got mine and the price of steel HAS driven prices out of sight in the last 2 years. Plus, the 54" is made of 10ga steel, mine was 14 ga. In fact, I paid extra (5%) because I wanted a "low profile" culvert pipe that looks kind of squashed but has the same flow opening as a round one. Called a "Pipe Arch". Are you in Genesse County in Michigan? Did you get the price from the County? I know I got a better deal because I ordered it through them (St. Clair County in Michigan).

"Timber Trusses" & "Covered bridge" sound pricey, too, especially when you talk about "trailers of green firewood over it with a small tractor". How "small" a tractor? What does it weigh? I'd be afraid to build anything with a 30' span out of wood to carry any significant weight that I designed myself. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

Yeah, my wonderful neighbors....The creek is only 1-2 feet deep, maybe gets to 3'-4' in the Spring. The creekbed is very unstable; I wouldn't take my new Kubota in there....Anyway,the creek is at the rear of the backyard where it would be impossible to make any kind of cut. A 54" culvert, rip rap, sloped headwall, etc is required by the county; that's why I'm looking for something cheap n easy to bridge the creek. I thought maybe bridging it solid with used telephone poles and planking it with 3" roughsawn oak... RIANT
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What does the county have to do with it?
It's on private property isn't it?

"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]

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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"?

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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.

A cost efficient culvert could possibly be made using 2-3 salvaged fuel tanks placed side-by-side with about 2 feet of space between each one. You cut the ends out of the tanks leaving about 4 inches of the end wall all the way around the outer diameter. If the tanks have alot of fuel residue in them, then pressure wash inside the tanks good before placement. Backfill around the tanks with sand and top off with about 6-8 inches of crushed stone or concrete. Good top cover over culverts is very important. Lots of farmers here in North Carolina have used salvaged fuel tanks removed from gas stations for culverts.

Look up "Prescriptive Easement" if you haven't yet built your bridge or culvert. "enjoyed by generations" sounds like it might qualify.

after probably 25 years of trying different things to cross our creek I finally got it right. We first had a small creek that you could jump across and now due to more homes, more roads, a shoping mall and just good ole' mother nature we have a 20' wide crossing. We had a bridge at one point built out of free telephone poles and 2x12's, worked great until we had a crazy flood, the bridge turned into a raft. I placed a "dead man" on one corner and chained it down so the raft didint get far. We now have 3 concrete culverts with set up like this __O___O___O__, i placed large rocks between them, covered the rocks and culverts with flat sandstone and concrete. The most important thing was to put rocks out into the creek to direct the water into the culverts. You will also need to protect the bank on both sides with rocks or gabion box's to slow down erosion. Cutting down the bank to acess the crossing will also cause erosion, I curently have my ramps packed with clay and that has been very efective.
the only thing we ever paid for in this process was bags of redi mix, the culverts were all free due to cracks, broken flanges, or cut down left overs. Large rocks were the key, when you have a flood the forces that are on a crossing are extreme and unpredictable. good luck