Widening Driveway Help
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Printed Date: 15 May 2025 at 3:04am
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Topic: Widening Driveway Help
Posted By: David and Danette
Subject: Widening Driveway Help
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2019 at 5:34pm
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We want to widen our driveway to make it easier backing our camper into driveway. We now have about a 16 foot concrete pipe under driveway, I want to know can the concrete pipe be extended? I have searched on the internet and I haven't been able found any help. Our County Highway dept will install a new pipe if we buy the pipe, but concrete pipe is expensive. They suggested a metal pipe but what I have read it doesn't last long and concrete seems to be the best choice. Extending the concrete pipe seems like that would be the best thing to do, but not sure if that is possible. Does anyone have any advice or have tried this before? Thank you
------------- 2018 Vista Cruiser 19BFD (2018- 2012 Vibe 6503 (2014-2019) 2009 r-pod 171 (2009-2014) Middle Tn 2014 Ram 1500 Quad cab |
Replies:
Posted By: Woodmiester
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2019 at 5:58pm
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Any chance of a plastic pipe working? ------------- Swampfox |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2019 at 6:09pm
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I take it you have talked to the Highway Dept. They are experts at drainage access to a major road from a driveway. I had to build a bridge and it had to be approved by the county. There almost has to be an inspector or a dept that handles these issues. If it is a standard drainage ditch I would go with galvanized pipe. It comes large and long. You probably will need concrete abutments on ends. One of those cases where local folks may have the answer and regulations, not the internet. When I did my bridge, I had to go thru county engineer for approval. That's why I take it - you are dealing with a drainage ditch not a water way. I would say a galvanized pipe will outlive you. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: Ben Herman
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2019 at 6:41pm
| We widened our driveway at a house that we used to own - used galvanized pipe that connected to a flared end fitting that widened out past the ends of the driveway. Concrete seems like overkill to me. In my neck of the woods (Colorado) there are irrigation pipe suppliers - that's where we got ours. Was some years ago so do not recall the expense but it was not that much. |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 20 Feb 2019 at 12:10am
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Can you get corrugated plastic pipe in your area? We replaced an old 10 inch concrete culvert with a 12 inch corrugated plastic culvert on our driveway. We needed the additional capacity. The corrugated plastic is HDPE (I think). Corrugated on the outside and smooth on the inside. If you need to extend an existing pipe (like your concrete pipe), I believe they make connectors. We got ours from a https://sheltonpipe-watermanagement.com - place like this .
------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: David and Danette
Date Posted: 20 Feb 2019 at 5:56am
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I have decided if I can not find a way to extend existing pipe I will leave alone and add another pipe down the road further and have a U-shaped driveway. It doesn't make sense to remove a good concrete pipe and replace with a longer plastic or metal pipe. I just never thought of adding a additional pipe and adding to the existing gravel driveway. I will see what the Highway Dept thinks about that but I don't see it being a problem in a rural area.
------------- 2018 Vista Cruiser 19BFD (2018- 2012 Vibe 6503 (2014-2019) 2009 r-pod 171 (2009-2014) Middle Tn 2014 Ram 1500 Quad cab |
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 20 Feb 2019 at 6:09am
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If you have he space to do a second entrance, why would you even want to widen your driveway so you can back your trailer in? It would be so much easier to have the U driveway and likely wouldn't be any more expensive. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: David and Danette
Date Posted: 20 Feb 2019 at 6:48am
 ------------- 2018 Vista Cruiser 19BFD (2018- 2012 Vibe 6503 (2014-2019) 2009 r-pod 171 (2009-2014) Middle Tn 2014 Ram 1500 Quad cab |
Posted By: Motor7
Date Posted: 20 Feb 2019 at 7:16am
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If you have 16' of concrete culvert, that's two 8' sections. Each section has one straight end and one flared gasket end for fitting them together. So, yes, you can extend a concrete culvert with another section of the same diameter pipe. You will have to excavate one side of the driveway to expose the end of the existing culvert and level the ground to bed the new pipe in. Concrete culvert is heavy....around a ton for a small diameter and they go up from there, so a backhoe or excavator is needed. It should take a competent heavy equipment operator less than an hour to install one, then another hour or so to back-fill over the new section with gravel and pack it all in so you can drive on it. Around here that job would cost under a thousand, but you can easily double that in other parts of the country. We use the poly pipe here now like GlueGuy suggested. One person can handle a 20'x 16" by hand with ease. As far as I know, there is no adapter to go from poly to concrete, so mixing and matching won't work. Adding a second driveway entrance using a 20' poly pipe will cost almost the same as extending your existing one. The only difference is the additional fill material needed. There is nothing wrong with galvanized pipe, it will last for 40-50 years. If that's the only one the county approves, and they will install for free, go for it, but get a 20' one, not a 16'. 16'(imho) is too short for any driveway that has anything other than cars turning in...no trailers. See if the County will approve a poly pipe. They are easy to find..... Co-Op and hardware store here sell them. Make them spec out the diameter for you so you get the right size.
------------- 2016 R-Pod 176T |