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Ohio Department of
Transportation
Relining of Culvert Pipe Along the
Highways of Ohio Well, the sun
wasn't shining, nor was the sky blue. It was kin of gray
and misting, but it was still a beautiful day for a culvert
lining job. Lorain County gave me the opportunity to go
out with the crew that was working on its first culvert lining
project on SR 303. I want to give my heartfelt thanks to
Steve Brewer and his crew - Chad Frabotta, Jim Huffman, Steve
Jacobcik, Dan Nehls, Jeff Wilson, and Mark Zywczyk -- for
letting me get really muddy with them. I particularly
appreciate them allowing me to be there, because this was the
first time they had performed a culvert lining job. It's
hard enough to do something new, without and audience. For
the record though, if they had not told me that this was the
first culvert lining job for them, I would have never known,
because they seemed to be doing a great job.
Instead of tearing up the road, detouring traffic, replacing the
culvert pipe, then repairing the road, this method allows the
crew to get right to the point of their job - maintaining good
drainage. They don't need to break through the road; they
don't need to route traffic. Some digging is done to get
to the pipe itself, and flaggers are setup to maintain traffic.
The pipe is brought to the site in sections. As the pipe
is fitted together, it's pushed through the existing culvert.
A long, narrow sock is placed on top of the pipe liner and is
filled with a concrete-grout solution, which keeps the liner on
the bottom. The concrete-grout solution then is filled in
the gaps between the liner and the existing culvert, around the
sock. I have to tell you -- I was fascinated watching them
do this. I just wish I could have been more help. The crew
was great, though. They didn't make me feel like I was in
the way, and I did get to do a couple of things for them,
including holding the sump pump hose so it wouldn't be quite as
wet and muddy as it could have been.
-The Legend, December Vol. 12, 2001 Ohio
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