Culvert Cleaning

Overview

With the awareness of environmental hazards detailed by federal and local regulations, it is important that drainage structures are properly maintained. In the past these structures have not been given the attention they deserve. Many culverts in the U.S. have never been cleaned which has resulted in damages to the structures themselves, roads, ditches, personal property and even people. One of the main reasons organizations have not maintained their structures is due to the lack of efficient and effective culvert cleaning methods. Open cutting a road, jetter trucks, backhoes and cables are all methods that have been used to clean culverts in the past. Each of these methods have their shortcomings.

Benefits

Harr's patented method have overcome these failures of other methods and has introduced an efficient and effective way to clean clogged culverts. The following are benefits of this method:

Efficiency -- During Harr's development, he did a head-to-head competition with his process and a jetter truck. He found a culvert with 2 pipes. He cleaned the first pipe with the jet truck and completed the cleaning in 6.5 hours and used 1200 gallons of water. The second pipe he cleaned with his method and was done in 40 minutes and used 110 gallons of water.
Reduced Water Usage -- When using a jetter truck, potentially thousands of gallons of water can be used to effectively clean a culvert. Harr's method will use a fraction of that. For example, a 60' culvert with a diameter of 24" that is 100% full can be cleaned using between 100-250 gallons of water. Using Harr's method the water usage and pressure are controlled by the drill operator. The water is pumped through the drill stem to the culvert cleaning attachments.
Versatile -- Using a directional drill culverts of any size, shape and material can be cleaned effectively.
Containment of Debris -- Using a directional drill gives the operator complete control of the debris within a culvert. With controlled pullback and thrust speeds the operator can remove as little or as much material as they want at a controlled speed. This will allow for the material to be shovelled, excavated or vacuumed as it is being removed from the culvert. Using a pull bucket or push bucket, material can be removed from either end of a culvert.
Structurally Safe -- The culvert cleaning tools are built out of a mild steel that will not damage the interior of the culvert. Using a directional drill allows the operator to control the rotation of the tools. This is very important especially when a failure or void is encountered. With total control the operator will be able to back out the tool to determine where the failure is.

Tooling

Horizontal Directional Drill(HDD)
Barrel Reamer -- Designed to loosen and remove heavy material located in the culvert.
Push Bucket -- Designed to push material out the far end of the culvert. It can also function as a scoop removing material bucket full at a time.
Pull Bucket -- Designed to pull material back towards to operator.
Brush -- Designed to fine clean a culvert.