Did you know that culvert maintenance is more important than you may think? In fact, culverts are a big reason why the streets don’t flood whenever it rains or large amounts of snow melt all at once. However, most people pay very little to zero attention to culverts, even if one is located on their property. If that’s the case, the property owner is 100% responsible for culvert maintenance and all related tasks involved in the process. That does not mean you should attempt any culvert maintenance on your own. It’s best left to professionals who know exactly what they’re doing.
Property owners who attempt culvert maintenance on their own can easily cause more damage than good. In addition, hiring a pro is cost effective. It’s not an expensive property maintenance project like exterior painting or roofing. If you’re not sure if you have a culvert on your property, it’s necessary to learn what they are and what they do. First and foremost, culverts are typically small tunnels that are made of concrete, stone, metal, and or large diameter pipe. Their purpose is to distribute stormwater from one side of a structure to another side, without flooding and ruining the structure.
An example of a structure would be a road or railroad track. Using the road example, the culvert opening is on one side of the road, the culvert tunnel runs under the road, and the culvert exit is on the other side of the road. When stormwater is running wild, and would otherwise flood the roadway, it enters into the culvert instead. From that point it flows through the culvert and ends up being distributed properly when exiting the culvert. In essence, the culvert may dump out into a nearby natural body of water, or man made retention pond.
However, if culvert maintenance is not performed at least once or twice per year, it can easily clog up with large branches, piles of leaves, large rocks, garbage and other debris. Clearing out that mess is part of culvert maintenance. If that isn’t done, the culvert becomes blocked and the stormwater won’t be able to enter into it. That’s exactly when flooding occurs. In essence the stormwater backs out of the culvert and floods into the roadway and nearby properties. Another important aspect of maintaining culverts is inspecting the tube in order to ensure that it is structurally safe, locating any issues and fixing those problems so that the culvert can remain in good working order at all times.
If you have any general questions about culvert maintenance, or would like to learn more about our culvert maintenance services, or would like to schedule an appointment we are happy to help. Please contact us today! Jolin Paving & Excavating, Inc. is your New England connection for a vast variety of environmentally related services. Our company has been serving Boston Massachusetts, Southern NH, VT & ME as well as Northern CT & RI since 1952. Please Contact us to learn more today.
Environmental related issues occur all of the time, and can strike at any time. That is exactly why you need to have a local and reliable environmental services company at the helm and ready to go whenever you actually need them. Jolin Paving & Excavating, Inc. is a fully licensed and bonded utility contractor that has the ability to pull the proper permits in municipalities across New England.
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