A Detailed Rundown on Culverts | Culvert Pipes, Rochester

Culverts are not your regular pipes. If you’re not sure what type of culverts you need or you’d like to know more about them and their intricacies, you’re in the right place. This article will explain what culverts are, dissect their different shapes and sizes, and help you find high-quality culvert pipes in Rochester.

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What are culverts?

Culverts are tunnel-like structures that can carry water and wastewater. They can be found under roads, railways, and soil. Their purpose is to limit and direct the waterflow to relieve drainage, prevent floods, and allow crossings over the waterway.

Sometimes, their purpose coincides with that of a bridge, but there are many differences. As they are different structures, they require a different and proper inspection to ensure they’re functional, performing well, and structurally adequate.

What material are culverts made of?

One of the most important aspects of culverts is the material used for its construction. Here are a few options:

Steel

There are usually two main types:

• Structural steel plate (SPP): This material is very durable and provides excellent corrosion resistance. It’s used to construct metal box and arch culverts.
• Corrugated steel pipe (CSP): Pipe culverts are typically constructed from this material as it makes the pipe strong and flexible, which is important due to its round shape.

Concrete

Concrete is another common material used for culvert construction. It is strong and long-lasting. It also has a low environmental impact on its surroundings. Box culverts made of concrete are common in both urban and rural areas. 

Aluminum

Typically made from structured plates, aluminum culverts are usually metal box culverts. Aside from being light, they provide excellent corrosion resistance and are recyclable.

High-density polyethylene (HDPE)

HDPE culverts are usually pipe culverts. This material makes them light, yet strong. They’re also weather-resistant, and impact-resistant. HDPE is not only long-lasting, but also easily molded into different shapes, so it’s a good choice for culvert construction.

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What are the standard sizes for culverts?

The size of a culvert depends on many factors, such as the specific project, area, state regulations, etc. Usually, culverts come in 10, 12, and 20 feet lengths or they’re custom-made to fit the client’s requirements.

When it comes to the diameter, it can range from 6’’ to 96’’ and more. Again, as it should be safe, durable, and effective, a culvert should be constructed to fit the unique circumstances and requirements of each individual client.

What are the different shapes of culverts?

To fit the needed waterflow capacity, environment, and other conditions, culverts come in different shapes. They can be round, pear-shaped, elliptical, box-like, and flat-bottomed.

Their unique features make for different culvert types, such as the following:

• Pipe culvert
• Arch culvert
• Bridge culvert
• Pipe-arch culvert
• Box culvert
• Metal box culvert

Where can you get high-quality culvert pipes in Rochester & the nearby area?

When you need reliable and durable water and wastewater material and equipment, look no further than Blair Supply Corp. We have been a trusted supplier of culverts for over 60 years.

We follow the latest industry trends, work with dependable suppliers, and boast a team of qualified and experienced experts in their field.

Our company strives to innovate and keep improving our business to cater to different clients in Rochester and Watertown in the best possible way.

Give us a call, and we’ll be happy to answer all your questions about culverts and other equipment. Blair Supply Corp. is at your disposal from that initial call to the execution of your requested project. Reach out to us today and see for yourself why we’re the leading culvert distributor!

Are you interested in learning more about Corrugated Metal Pipe? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

Thanks for all the replies.
I'l try to answer all questions and throw some comments of my own.........
I like the "one " big pipe solution.....
I'm involved with the a local snowmobile club, and when we put.... say..... ( 2 ) 12 " culverts side by side.... or ( 2 ) drain pipes they would aways plug up or get washed out in the springs rains.... so from working with the club... i like one big pipe idea.

I like poly over steel.... lighter, easy to handle, and seems more available on Craigs list and market place.

In my area... Western NY, There are several ads on the local market place for sections or cut offs.... i've seen 8' pcs, , 10 ' 12' ...different diameters.... and one ad ... buy the 20 " er and he'll cut it to whatever, so. i think i'll go with plastic.
and.....as others posted.... I know.... the larger the diameter, the price really jumps up.

Skeets... it flows off the propety. in the pics, the 4 wheeler is propably 50 - 60 yds up stream of the fence line / property line. I could probably go on their land, but it gets wooded and brushy. But... it flows better thru their area then the grassy area where the wheeler is at.

mikester.... ya.... spring time mainly. it does stay soft in the summer, but last summer was the 1st yr with my tractor so i kept cutting the grass.... sometimes as high as the hood..... and after keeping it knocked down and short, it dryed out toward Aug / Sept.
But its low land, and just real loamy. i'd would hate like heck to get the tractor stuck down there.

I don't like the bridge idea.... again, from working with the snowmobile club where putting in the snowmobile trails, ya.... we have some bridges on our trail system, but it seams culverts last longer and work out better.

I know i'll have to bring some fill in, the only thing i have is my front loader to move fill.
this crossing will only be for the tractor and 4 wheelers.
.

A question for those following this thread......
how far down will i have to dig to get the pipe to drain properly..?
I know its hard to answer with out seeing the land...... but i don't what to put the pipe too deep, or too shallow.

A question for those following this thread......
how far down will i have to dig to get the pipe to drain properly..?
I know its hard to answer with out seeing the land...... but i don't what to put the pipe too deep, or too shallow.

Late to the party, but my comment would be that the pipe doesn’t drain anything. It just carries water through it. In order for the pipe to carry water, you need the water on the exit side of the pipe to be lower than the water on the entrance side of the pipe. (Not totally true, but for drainage purposes probably true)

In your picture if you put a pipe, with the top below the surface of the water, water might flow through the Pipe, or might flow over the Pipe, or flow to the sides of the pipe, but it wouldn’t help with your water problem. The water level is set by the restriction on the property at the exit point beyond where the pipe would be placed.

So I think the starting point is how high does the water level get, worst case? The top of the pipe certainly should be above that level, for it to carry any water through it in practical terms.

I guess my point is that you need to worry about where the top of the pipe should be, and not where the bottom needs to be.

Now if what you’re really looking to do is to build the surface up higher than the highest point where water is worst case, then you get to the point of trying to determine the size of a pipe you need for the amount of flow that goes across your property. This is not a drainage issue.

I guess in my mind, I got sidetracked because you mentioned drainage, but in reality, you might not be interested in drainage at all.

Thanks for all the replies.
I'l try to answer all questions and throw some comments of my own.........
I like the "one " big pipe solution.....
I'm involved with the a local snowmobile club, and when we put.... say..... ( 2 ) 12 " culverts side by side.... or ( 2 ) drain pipes they would aways plug up or get washed out in the springs rains.... so from working with the club... i like one big pipe idea.

I like poly over steel.... lighter, easy to handle, and seems more available on Craigs list and market place.

In my area... Western NY, There are several ads on the local market place for sections or cut offs.... i've seen 8' pcs, , 10 ' 12' ...different diameters.... and one ad ... buy the 20 " er and he'll cut it to whatever, so. i think i'll go with plastic.
and.....as others posted.... I know.... the larger the diameter, the price really jumps up.

Skeets... it flows off the propety. in the pics, the 4 wheeler is propably 50 - 60 yds up stream of the fence line / property line. I could probably go on their land, but it gets wooded and brushy. But... it flows better thru their area then the grassy area where the wheeler is at.

mikester.... ya.... spring time mainly. it does stay soft in the summer, but last summer was the 1st yr with my tractor so i kept cutting the grass.... sometimes as high as the hood..... and after keeping it knocked down and short, it dryed out toward Aug / Sept.
But its low land, and just real loamy. i'd would hate like heck to get the tractor stuck down there.

I don't like the bridge idea.... again, from working with the snowmobile club where putting in the snowmobile trails, ya.... we have some bridges on our trail system, but it seams culverts last longer and work out better.

I know i'll have to bring some fill in, the only thing i have is my front loader to move fill.
this crossing will only be for the tractor and 4 wheelers.
.

A question for those following this thread......
how far down will i have to dig to get the pipe to drain properly..?
I know its hard to answer with out seeing the land...... but i don't what to put the pipe too deep, or too shallow.

I really do not think anyone can reasonably answer your "how far down will I have to dig" question, without seeing your particular location.
As a possible guide: sewer drain lines must slope at least 1" per 10', and that is a smooth pipe absolute minimum pitch! Had a similar situation, potential place on my woods road to get stuck only in a ravine that drains 10-12 acres. Local hardware store had a sale on the 10" x 20'
poly culvert pipe couple years back, $120 out the door. Cut it in 1/2 at the store with a sawzall for easy transport and ended up with a 15' culvert. It has never overflowed or plugged up and only seen it 1/2 full after a 3" rainfall event. it pitches about 6" in that span.
I didn't want to spend much and this worked great. Been over it with a 2 ton tractor many times, tough culverts the poly ones.
I did haul in some buckets of rocks to solidify the base before putting the culvert in then packed the culvert in crushed stone, under, beside and 6" over.