Clogged Culvert (Updated 8/13 with pics)

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

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Staff member
If you recall last summer at the hunting property my employer owns we did a lot of clearing with chainsaws and dragging to open up a field that had been taken over by the swamp. Our hopes are to continue clearing the area and get it to the point where we can plant duck food plots. The recent tractor purchase goes a long way towards making it happen.

This past Sunday Thomas and I took the tractor over there and made some progress clearing trails. The problem we are running into though is the place is holding as much water as it did during hunting season. Twenty years ago it never held this much water in the summer. Last year we had a very dry summer so the place eventually dried out enough to clear in the later summer/fall timeframe. This year has been wet and given the amount of water it's holding there is no way we can get in the swamp to clear. Not only that but the smartweed is once again so thick you can't even walk in there much less see the 3 feet of water. This happened two years ago and it was a loss for hunting.

Trying to find the reason for the water we discovered there are two clogged culverts at the foot of bridge where the water flows out of the swamp and to the river. All water goes through these 30-36" culverts so they need to be cleared to get any kind of control of the situation. I did manage to clear the lower one with some hand tools and a lot of sweat. Crawled in the pipe and dug it out by hand.

I'm willing to do the second pipe by hand as well but it will be a harder job. As an alternative to sweating it out I started thinking there must be some way to blast it out with water pressure. If only I knew someone with access to a large pump or fire truck, perhaps. The pipe is mere feet from a gravel road so access is really easy. It's just a matter of getting the right peice of equipment to do the job. Anybody have experience with this? Any suggestions?
 
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Eric,
if you have a source of water near to it rent a 2 to 3" trash pump and get what you need for hose to reach the culvert. A fire hose sprayer will help to jet the stuff out from the down stream side. If it is a long culvert a section of hard pipe (PVC or steel can extend your reach).
We used to call in a vac truck but they get big money for that.


If you have to put the suction in the swamp use a trash can with holes cut in it on one side to keep the debri out of the intake screen.

Good luck.

If this goes off you need to post some pictures of the swamp crew in full muck coverage.
 
Bob

The water starts right at the clogged opening. A pump with the right pressure/volume would do it. The clogged culvert is about 15-20' long and has a 30-36" diameter. Big enough I can crawl in it but don't relish the thought. The lower culvert was easier to unplug since it was starved for water by the first culvert in the series. I don't want to be digging out the debris from inside and be flushed out of the pipe if it breaks loose. I'm going to look into renting a pump and see if maybe I can blast it out myself. I'm also wondering if I could feed some sort of grapple through the culvert and then use a chain and the tractor to drag the limbs and mud loose.

Thanks.

Eric
 
Rent a farm pump @ the local store then do a "stepdown" from the mainline, reducing down to a 1" PVC pipe.

We sink pilings for our handicap duck blinds the same way.
 
I don't envy you that duty.... years ago, I worked at a Boy Scout camp, and the culvert for the swimming pond got plugged.... I crawled up in there and was pulling out the debris by hand for hours.... finally I started making some progress when all of a sudden a section let loose, propelling a very decomposed deer carcass into my lap/face..... a slimy smell mess! I scrubbed myself raw trying to get that stench off me!
 
Eric,

Just trying to follow along with little practical knowledge. If the water is now at the hunting level, and unclogging the culverts will drain it, will you be adding water control structures for hunting season? Do you need the culverts plugged back up to hold water in the Fall? Or does the water table simply come up that high in the fall so there is nowhere to drain too?

Great project, glad your letting us follow along.

Scott
 
Eric
20lb of PE and a few dets should do the job, just make sure you dont hang about HeHeHe.
Take care and God Bless
Eddie and Amber
Its all about Building that Bond.
 
Scott

That is a bit of an unknown to me at this point. This swamp is divided into several clubs and I'm certain someone knows how it works and it's probably really straightforward. The place has always has water in the winter but I don't know where it backs up from. There is a well known duck club on the other side of the highway. I know they empty into the same creek that runs to the river. I don't know if their control structure somehow backs up water into the swamp. It could also be water naturally backs up there in the winter, but since they lower the TN river so I don't know how that could be. Another possibility is the culverts were plugged purposely annually by club members. About 5+ years ago they put in new bridges. Maybe at that time they plugged with mud and nobody has bothered to clean them out thus explaining the wetter than historical conditions.

Bottom line is I want to clean them out, dry the place out, and will plug them in the fall if need be. The place has gone unattended water-wise for sometimes now and improvement is needed. I don't know if cleaning the culverts from the mud and limbs will get all the water out, but it will help the situation and I know from hunting there the past 20+ years it doesn't take much water to fill it up again.

Eric
 
Eddie

Next time you are in the neighborhood I'll let you demonstrate. When I was a kid you could still buy dynamite at hardware stores in Tennessee. My how times have changed.

Eric
 
Eric,
I know some guys on the conservation department around here have used an old tire and a logging chain. Tire on the plugged end use a pole or something to get the chain through the plug one end around the tire and one on the tractor. Tire can deform and not catch on any of the pipe so you don't risk ruining the pipe. Might be worth a try?
 
Eric,

I have 2 bro in laws that both have gas operated 2" pumps that we have used the unclog our culvers, sink telephone poles for blinds, water the back 40 acres, etc. Darn near anything we need. A long hose, chunk of 2" pipe with the end smashed closed a bit provides a tremendous amount of force and will blast out darn near anything, even Dave's deer. Tire trick works too, but getting the chain through is almost as much effort as just plain washing it out.

Either way, a few pics of the process would be nice!

Good luck,
 
Eric

Are you talking about those 5-10 hp portable pumps that Northern Hydraulics sells and some rental places have too? I've not fooled with them and don't have much feel for the volume/pressure they can generate. If that is what you are refering to I'm certain I could get my hands on one.

As for the tire idea I know that we can see daylight at the very top of the clog. Fishing a chain shouldn't be that bad.

Eric
 
Eric
No problem, when I was in the Army we use to blow toilet seats off the jon for the fun of it, one night I went to the naffi, you guys call it the PX and when I got there, there was a que a mile long, I soon cleared the Naffi, I just through a det in there, you should have seen them move HeHehe.
Take care and God Bless
Eddie and Amber
Its all about Building that Bond.
 
Eric -
I get to clean out culverts fairly frequently for work. Normally they are plugged by beavers - do you know if that's the cause in your case? If so, I'd recommend getting a trapper in there to assess the situation before proceding. The trapper may not want the water lowered while he's trying to work. But he may want the dam broken a little bit to get them in there fixing it. If there is no current beaver activity, then have at 'er!

Attached is a pic of the "rake" I use. It isn't a lot of fun, but it's not terrible, either. Basically you pick it apart piece by piece. It doesn't take too long before you kinda get the feel for it and it goes smoothly. For a long culvert like you referenced, hold on, it get's kind of technical! You see, what I do, is cut down a long sapling - ash if possible, and duct tape the rake to it. Most of our culverts are not big enough to crawl into.

If the clog is really a sucker, we hire a backhoe to come in and "plunge" the culvert. For this method, cut down a bigger tree - if you can find one that just barely fits inside the culvert, that's perfect. Then run it into the culvert from the downstream side and push the crapola out. As long as the backhoe is there, have him scoop out anything he can to make reconstruction more challenging if/when the beavers return.

Don't know if any of that info is of use to you, but either way, good luck!

(I just threw the 8# hammer in there for size reference.)

254720_10150756601145061_552485060_20225022_3641525_n.jpg

 
Nick

Thanks for the advice. The clogs could be a result of a beaver but it looks more like debris that collected. I didn't see any signs of beaver chewed sticks.
 
Eric,

I have 2 bro in laws that both have gas operated 2" pumps that we have used the unclog our culvers, sink telephone poles for blinds, water the back 40 acres, etc. Darn near anything we need. A long hose, chunk of 2" pipe with the end smashed closed a bit provides a tremendous amount of force and will blast out darn near anything, even Dave's deer. Tire trick works too, but getting the chain through is almost as much effort as just plain washing it out.

Either way, a few pics of the process would be nice!

Good luck,
Click to expand...


Like I said earlier, it works!!!
 
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