Let Your Culverts Weep
Concrete culverts are a common drainage system that is very effective in supporting the proper flow of water while retaining soil and supporting structures, such as roadways, buildings, and parking lots. However, they have an ironic weakness that can compromise them over time, the lack of effective drainage of the culvert itself.
The problem typically comes from heavy rainfall or flood events that causes water to saturate the soil around the culvert. This can cause a buildup of hydrostatic pressure which can lead to water compromising and destabilizing the structure. Once the culvert is compromised, water begins to seep through culvert walls or around the culvert, leading to soil loss and further concrete damage. It’s a compounding effect that worsens over time and can lead to eventual failure. This is where Jet Filter comes in.
Jet Filter’s maintainable weepholes are an incredible solution that help prevent this failure from ever happening. Here’s how:
Release of Hydrostatic Pressure
The first benefit is the release of hydrostatic pressure. This is crucial because the added weight of the water pushing against the sides of your culvert could have devastating results. A Jet Filter system will allow the water that is pooling up to flow into the culvert thereby releasing the external pressure. This takes a lot of stress off the walls and reduces the potential for damage.
Retain Fines behind the Wall
Jet Filter excels at keeping the soil where it needs to be. Our filters have a special conical shape that allows a large geotextile surface area to filter the soil from the water. That means soil and backfill are retained and they continue to support the culvert and any structures overhead.
Our systems are designed for long-term success. We create our filters to be both maintainable and replaceable and the process is quick and easy. You can clean the filter and put it back in or just take it out to replace it with a new filter. To make it even better, maintenance only takes 2-3 min per unit and only needs to be done every 2-5 years depending on flow conditions.
The most important benefit is that our Jet Filter systems will help your culvert operate more efficiently for as long as possible. By taking the stress off the walls and relieving external pressure, the potential for compromised soil or structural damage are greatly reduced. The result is a structure that has a greatly increased lifespan.
