Sometimes a job doesn’t quite go to plan. One of our customers recently called us in after a contractor inadvertently collapsed a culvert while they were demolishing a building.
Not every contractor is fully aware of what’s going on underground when they come to do a job, but this sort of thing is our field of expertise. We were quickly on the scene to start work excavating and renewing the destroyed culvert, taking the opportunity to install two new access chambers to the system.
The work involved fully cleaning the undamaged sections of the culvert and required over-pumping to enable the installation work was carried out. As a result, the culvert needed to be diverted with a twin pump system in quite a complex operation.
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Culverts are usually built to direct and manage water flow, often under obstructions such as roads, paths or railway tracks. Like any other part of your drainage infrastructure, they need proper maintaining or, when things go wrong, they need repairing quickly.
It’s not just unwary contractors using heavy plant who can damage a culvert. Other common causes of damage include:
Settling and shifting ground. Culverts subside due to changes in the soil condition, traffic or other loads that the ground above has to bear, causing distortion or misalignment. This affects the structural integrity of the culvert as well as the potential to affect water flow.
Blockages. Often caused by the accumulation of vegetation, sediment rubbish or other debris such as builders’ rubble, blockages can cause flooding to your property as well as erosion, leading to culvert collapse along with whatever is above it.
Joint or wall failure. Joints and walls in a culvert are often made of corrugated metal which can rust or be damaged by frost over time, opening up cracks or crumbling away and causing leaks into the surrounding soil, erosion and subsidence.
Many of these issues can be picked up with a regular inspection and maintenance schedule, which can involve reinforcing or replacing ageing infrastructure when necessary. This requires a budget but it can still prove cheaper over the long term than an expensive repair to your premises, or a temporary business closure due to a collapsed culvert.
To avoid flooding, we often have to reroute or restrict a water flow using other temporary diversion methods that allow us to work on a repair, such as coffer dams and piped or channel diversions, as well as pump arounds.
Diversion is also ecologically beneficial because allowing continual flow helps to maintain water quality above and below a blocked culvert. We follow the latest Environment Agency guidance on designing and repairing culverts.
If we have the luxury of time, to choose when to complete a scheduled repair, we try to pick drier times of the year. Reduced flow in the culvert lets us work more quickly.
Drain and Sewer Services are there when you need us
Our team helps commercial and domestic customers deal with damaged culverts and any other drainage emergencies to make sure their property is safe for the public and to prevent any structural damage to their premises.
No matter the size of your property or the nature of your business, Drain and Sewer Services delivers the same high level of holistic service, offering regular maintenance and repair contracts or – should the worst happen – a 24/7 emergency callout service to ensure that an accident doesn’t turn into a catastrophe.
At Drain and Sewer Services we also have a range of expertise and equipment to deal with most drainage, sewage and septic tank issues, including dealing with floods and emergencies, cleaning and routine maintenance of infrastructure.
If you are responsible for the maintenance of a commercial-scale property, or you’re the owner of a home who wants peace of mind and insurance against a hefty repair bill, give us a ring and talk to one of our team of experts on 01252 312738 or email info@drainandsewer.co.uk for an obligation-free discussion about how we can support you.