building a bridge/dam

Sounds like a big project, but not really. I have to truck my tractor and implements around several miles to get back within 20ft of the same place. I have a small creek deviding my food plots. Probably 8ft wide, steep banks 5ft deep. I was planning on chiseling out the banks and putting some concrete rifraft in the bottom. But I got to thinking, I could fill it halfway, creating a dam and a bridge. This would give me at least 2ft deep 5ft wide and probably back up water 100yds. This would make a great hole to irrigate from. I have plenty of telephone poles, question is, do they float after having been treated. I could cut them 10ft lengths, dump them in, put dirt all over and between with skid steer. Could even buy 20 bags of sacrette to pour over it all. Then put my rifraft on top of the poles. I'm thinking that over time, dirt would fill in in front of the poles, which I could help that out, and create the mud dam instead of the poles. The poles would just be for a solid base to drive over. Any thoughts, ideas? I'm building in my head first

Bridge

I had the same problem. What I did was buy telephone poles then cut them to length so they would span the ditch. I used three across then nailed pressure treated 2/8 to the poles. It came out better then I thought and have no problem driving my tractor over the bridge.

Bones

Bones said:

I had the same problem. What I did was buy telephone poles then cut them to length so they would span the ditch. I used three across then nailed pressure treated 2/8 to the poles. It came out better then I thought and have no problem driving my tractor over the bridge.

Bones

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That was the first plan I had. But I was going to have to chisel out for the height of the poles just to get on them. Then, the irrigation thought came to mind. If I only dam half the depth, then overflow will stay with the banks and keep from washing my field topsoil away. I should have added with the OP that typically, it is only ankle deep. But the whole bottom tends to flood. Bet your proud of that bridge when time comes to cross it.

You could always dig a sloped grade going in an coming out the other side of creek with the skid steer so you could cross it.If its usually ankle deep an you got a 4 wd tractor should be no problem crossing.Then when you got your first slope dug to go into the creek get in creek an dig out the other side slope an use that dirt to dam the creek along with what else you dug from your initial slope.
Just a thought.

I got the same deal going on my property and have been trying to figure the best way to accomplish the same thing. Problem is our creek floods into a big bottom at times and the current seems like it could get strong enough to break a bridge made of telephone poles loose. At least dislodge and move it down stream some. Any other suggestions would be great. what about installing a couple large culvert pipes?

I would just make sure you are not going to flood anything if you do back up the creek first. But what you are suggesting should work

Do not drop the poles in for use as a dam. The force of water is / pressure against the poles in a static environment (poles on the bottom) will not receive the same forces as the poles on top receiving dynamic pressure in the event of a heavy rain, especially if you are having to cut out half, even part of the bank to get down to the half way point for the crossing.

At this point during a heavy rain event the water will begin to erode around the poles thus displacing whatever soil or material you have them topped with and at the very least creating a channel on one or both sides of your poles that is not traversable. In the worse case the buoyancy of the wood will take over and they will be dislodged and all of your hard work will have been in vein.

If you wish to cut out half of the bank down to that point and fill the void with rip rap, as well as filling about a foot above that point and over into the bank cut (ramp) with rip rap as well you will stand a better chance.

Personally, if you have access to a good many utility poles, I favor the bridge remedy the best. Just make sure you use the old timers wisdom building it slightly off level (sloping downhill towards the water flowing towards it) instead of level or the other way. This way when it floods (which is definitely a when, not an if) the pressure of the water pushing down on the bridge will stand a better chance of holding it in place, instead of displacement properties floating it away and once again destroying all of your hard work.

Which ever you choose be careful!!!

as a bridge, i did this too. one for the agri-farm stores in the area had 22 or 24 footers. my creek was pretty wide, and these worked great. i used 2 for mine, not 3.

it works great. my biggest (known) traffic is atv's and it is overkill. for a small farm tractor, it may be enough, or you may need the 3rd, depending on the length and thickness of the poles and decking.

re a dam: i don't know how the blasted beavers do it, but their stuff doesn't USUALLY wash away. i've always had bad luck. when the beaver dam washed about 2 years ago, they abandoned it and moved further upstream. sometimes that's cool, sometimes i wish that small duckpond was back in operation. i am sort of hoping they move back in and do some repair work.

Bones said:

I had the same problem. What I did was buy telephone poles then cut them to length so they would span the ditch. I used three across then nailed pressure treated 2/8 to the poles. It came out better then I thought and have no problem driving my tractor over the bridge.

Bones

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I would get a culvert pipe and some rif raf this should take care of everything. Never block off a creek you never know what you are effecting down stream.

ridgestalker said:

You could always dig a sloped grade going in an coming out the other side of creek with the skid steer so you could cross it.If its usually ankle deep an you got a 4 wd tractor should be no problem crossing.Then when you got your first slope dug to go (around & dig a gentle slope on the opp. side)
Just a thought.

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Do this ^^^^^. Don't try to interfere with the flow of the stream, work with it, not against it. Build a ford rather than a dam. Lay road fabric (geotextile) underlayment & big gravel on top; this keeps it from washing out or rutting & provides a stable base for occaisional use. Doesn't matter how high the water gets (except when you want to cross it) & it is environmentally sensitive, cheap & durable. Otherwise, bridge or culvert, big enough that the largest rain in the past 100 years would flow through it (figure out about how big you think would handle the flow from a big, typical storm, then buy a culvert 3-5 times the size of that one...people always go cheap & get one too small, then you have to fix it all the time from washing out; bigger culvert is cheaper than repairs). A dam is gonna get you flooded dead timber, skeeters & other unwanted critters, & a big ol' mess instead of a crossing spot. Not to mention, you should have to get a permit to construct a dam (I don't know the laws where you are).

http://www2.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/bmp/contents/diy/diy_streamcross.htm

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/stewardship/accessroads/stream.htm
(on this one, you can also look at the table of contents on the bottom, lots of good info on building forest roads & such properly)

AWBOWHUNTER said:

I got the same deal going on my property and have been trying to figure the best way to accomplish the same thing. Problem is our creek floods into a big bottom at times and the current seems like it could get strong enough to break a bridge made of telephone poles loose. At least dislodge and move it down stream some. Any other suggestions would be great. what about installing a couple large culvert pipes?

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On your property, the problem is not crossing/fording the creek, it is the wide, soft alluvial soil bottom on both sides. You'd get stuck going & coming. (That's why there's no road across it already; it would be prohibitively expensive & something of an environmental disaster, plus require constant maintenance every time it flooded). Can't be did in your case.

It's none of my business, but you should consider that bridging the stream is fine, but placing something in the stream like a dam/crossing, can cause problems with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Georgia EPD. If no one knows but you, then you should be relatively safe.

I should point out that it is not a creek, as most think. It is the drainage ditch from the back of my beaver swamp. Rarely ever is there moving water in it. Also, A dam does not stop water flow except for the amount of time it takes to fill it. In this case, one rain. It would not back up water out of it's own already cut ditch. The bank is about 4 to sometimes 5 feet deep of which I only plan on damming 2 feet. I can jump from bank to bank. So, it sounds much more than it is.

Forest Grump said:

Do this ^^^^^. Don't try to interfere with the flow of the stream, work with it, not against it. Build a ford rather than a dam. Lay road fabric (geotextile) underlayment & big gravel on top; this keeps it from washing out or rutting & provides a stable base for occaisional use. Doesn't matter how high the water gets (except when you want to cross it) & it is environmentally sensitive, cheap & durable. Otherwise, bridge or culvert, big enough that the largest rain in the past 100 years would flow through it (figure out about how big you think would handle the flow from a big, typical storm, then buy a culvert 3-5 times the size of that one...people always go cheap & get one too small, then you have to fix it all the time from washing out; bigger culvert is cheaper than repairs). A dam is gonna get you flooded dead timber, skeeters & other unwanted critters, & a big ol' mess instead of a crossing spot. Not to mention, you should have to get a permit to construct a dam (I don't know the laws where you are).

http://www2.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/bmp/contents/diy/diy_streamcross.htm

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/stewardship/accessroads/stream.htm
(on this one, you can also look at the table of contents on the bottom, lots of good info on building forest roads & such properly)

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Thats how it should be done in my opinion also but just gave a cheaper alternative i reckon.He could always dig a hole with his skid steer in the creek to create a holding pool for irrigation versus a dam. Also as it would not cause any of the problems associated with a dam an still have a pool of water to draw from if needed.If you are good on a skid steer or bocat the options are endless .

1gr8bldr said:

I should point out that it is not a creek, as most think. It is the drainage ditch from the back of my beaver swamp. Rarely ever is there moving water in it. Also, A dam does not stop water flow except for the amount of time it takes to fill it. In this case, one rain. It would not back up water out of it's own already cut ditch. The bank is about 4 to sometimes 5 feet deep of which I only plan on damming 2 feet. I can jump from bank to bank. So, it sounds much more than it is.

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If it's that small and isn't a actively flowing creek I'd find me a trailer someone has that the axles and wheels are shot on and drag it down there, take the axles off and drop it across the ditch to use as a bridge. I still like the utility pole crossing option better though.

Sounds like folks are turning it into one DAM big problem. LOL.

Go talk to your county extension agent and they will help you out. There may even be a grant of some sort you may qualify for.

It's "Rip Rap" fellas. Large granite pieces used to stabilize culvert outlets and erodible slopes.

poles horizontal across the ditch. 2 on top for bridge, 1 across at mid ditch, one at bottom.
Dig a slot in the bank to lock them in. The do the vertical ones on the upstream side of the horiz poles. tight together. Then pile in soil to the height you want to block water. Nature will do the rest and create a silt dam with leaves etc to seal it up.

1gr8bldr said:

I should point out that it is not a creek, as most think. It is the drainage ditch from the back of my beaver swamp. Rarely ever is there moving water in it. Also, A dam does not stop water flow except for the amount of time it takes to fill it. In this case, one rain. It would not back up water out of it's own already cut ditch. The bank is about 4 to sometimes 5 feet deep of which I only plan on damming 2 feet. I can jump from bank to bank. So, it sounds much more than it is.

Click to expand...

If that is the case it might be better to tackle it as 2 separate isues a bridge and a dam. The "dam" could be built out of rip rap, stones in the creek, and a little mud. Pile the rip rap up, fill the voids with stones and then pack mud into it. It will leak, but eventually it will fill the cracks in the dam with what washes down stream. Or you could just dig a pool into the existing stream bed. Be careful though, if what you are working on in in a flood area on flood maps it could require permits to add/build anything in a flood zone, including proving it will not impede water flow.

For the bridge, others have given good explanations of how to build them. you can always sink a pole into the bank on the up stream side to pin the bridge in place.

Have not found time yet, also been to wet with all the rain we have had.This entire area used to be under water. A huge beaver swamp is what it used to be 15 years ago. The power company came in and blew out the dam. So it is lowland, and tends to stay wet.