Driveway culverts & drainage ditches in Middle Tennessee

Where culverts and ditches earn their keep

Tennessee gets heavy downpours, and a driveway or low spot that handles a drizzle can wash out in a thunderstorm. Culverts and ditches fix three common problems: a drive that crosses a ditch or draw and either dams the water or gets cut by it; a lane that carries runoff down its own surface; and a yard or pad that collects water from higher ground. On the Highland Rim around Lawrenceburg and Pulaski, slow-draining cherty clay sends runoff to the surface. Around Columbia and Lewisburg, limestone-based clay sheds water fast and holds it in low spots.

How we install a driveway culvert

• Read the water. We look at where it comes from, how much arrives in a hard rain, and where it can safely go. Undersized pipe is the most common culvert failure.
• Dig to grade. The trench is cut with fall toward the outlet so the pipe drains rather than silts up, and soft bottoms are dug out and bedded in stone.
• Set and cover the pipe. The pipe is laid on firm bedding and backfilled in lifts with enough cover over the top to carry vehicle weight. We can set the pipe you choose or help you pick what fits the drive.
• Protect both ends. Rip rap or stone goes at the inlet and outlet so the first big storm does not undercut the pipe.
• Shape the drive over it. The lane is regraded so water reaches the culvert instead of running past it. See driveway grading.

Ditches, swales and turnouts

A ditch carries water; a swale is a shallow, broad version that you can mow. We dig both, sized to the flow, and line outlets with stone where speed would otherwise cut the soil. On a sloped lane we add turnouts or water bars every so often to shed water off the road before it builds up. We also redirect roof and downspout water, and fix a low spot in a yard by regrading toward an outlet.

Rules and limits

Water has to end up somewhere you are allowed to send it: not onto a neighbor's land, and not into a county road ditch in a way the county has not approved. Entrances onto county roads often come with pipe requirements, so check with the county highway department first. Work in a stream or wetland needs state approval from TDEC and is not something we do without it. We are not engineers; for floodplain, large drainage areas or a serious flood problem, bring in an engineer, and we will build to the plan.

Signs a culvert or ditch is failing

• Water standing at the inlet, or running over the top of the drive
• A dip or sinkhole above the pipe, or a crushed or rusted-through pipe
• The outlet is washed out or undercut, with no stone left
• The pipe is more than half full of silt, leaves or debris

Fix these before the spring rains, not during them.

What moves the price

Culvert and ditch jobs vary widely. The factors are pipe size and length, depth of the dig, rock or wet ground, stone for bedding and rip rap, the driveway repair around it, and access. Free on-site quotes.

Frequently asked questions