Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[Latestarter]

There are diverters of various designs. The design to have stuff float up and over the culvert, allowing water to flow through. Below compliments of www.azdot.gov

to see the PDF document: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...aw0Z2brHK389giItUCA72G_Q&ust=1546882950321036

 

[greybeard]

It is a shame ya can't put something up to assist in keeping the debris from blocking the flow GB....kinda like those gutters on houses that the debris slides over, but the water flows into the gutter..

I could easily enough, build a debris diverter grid if, not for the sheer size of the watershed this little 'usually dry' creek drains and due to the height of the roadway above the culverts and bottom of the 'creek'.
The creek drains about 60 acres immediately to the west and nw of me, but also drains a couple of hundred acres from across the nearest paved county road, just to the north of me, thru 2 different large culverts under that highway about 100 yards apart.

The volume of forest floor debris exposed to that water flow is simply incalculable. I walked into it several hundred yards, and it's no exagerration to say the biomass on the ground is 1' thick. Oak, sweetgum, magnolia leaves and of course, many many tons of pine needles. It is treacherous walking..quicksand is common in that area in all but the driest times.

The National Forest floor's topo is dynamic,...always changing, and I have noticed the flow thru this set of culverts I maintain has increased at least twofold since Hurricane Harvey. There is another set of drainage culverts flowing runoff onto this property about 2000' straight up my private access road to the North & I have noticed, that in the last few big rain events since late summer 2017, that the flow thru that set of culverts has become minimal, which leads me to believe the immense rainfall from Harvey scoured out the area so that instead of the drainage being shared between the two, it is almost 100% directed at the one I'm now having so much trouble with. Since all that drainage comes from Nat'l Forest, there's nothing I can do to make it change back like it was.
The area encompassed by the black line drains into my property.
'A' is a defunct drain, with a culvert under my road, that hasn't flowed any water in about 12 years. I traced it out into the forest, but suspect it has filled in with forest debris.
"B' is a moderate sized drainage coming from across the highway that used to flow a LOT of water pre-Harvey into a small pond in the front of the property and then on into my pond to the South.
'C' is a major drain that flows under the same highway and meanders thru the whole length of the property to the west and ends up at the crossing and culverts I just cleaned out.
I believe that 'B' and 'C' now communicate (yellow dotted line) and most of 'B's flow has joined 'C' which accounts for why I'm seeing so much more flow at the southerly end than I used to.

This of course, refers only to local runoff from heavy rains. Once the river comes up from the 65 miles of upstream river watershed, the dynamic is completely different as the water approaches from the East. (Harvey being an exception....it came from everywhere.)
(I don't know why the Williams Food Products thing is there on Google maps. There's certainly nothing at all at that location.....it's all National Forest.)

 

[Bruce]

Caught a slight lull in the rain to go feed the goats but soaked through my footwear and have water/poo mud "collars" around the bottom of my pant legs. 1st wear of these clean jeans... Oh well, another wet day in store.

Seems like you REALLY need to get some waterproof boots for the wet season.

 

[Latestarter]

problem is leg and foot swelling... about impossible to find boots cut low enough to not "bind" on my calf and still be workable... Have thought about buying a pair and simply cutting the tops off them to leave them just above ankle level. Worried that the cut edge would rub raw the flesh around my ankles though. Also, they would need to be able to slip on and slip off easily.

 

[Mike CHS]

I don't envy you your footwear issues.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

problem is leg and foot swelling... about impossible to find boots cut low enough to not "bind" on my calf and still be workable... Have thought about buying a pair and simply cutting the tops off them to leave them just above ankle level. Worried that the cut edge would rub raw the flesh around my ankles though. Also, they would need to be able to slip on and slip off easily.

Hey there....i ordered rubber boots online as they had a better size selection, then cut tops to my desired boot height, you can use duct tape to make top edge smoother if ot hits your skin....we all gotta do things outside the box some times...husband has two diffrent sized feet with two size widths, and hardly any calf muscles. ...i manage to find boots and refit them....just a idea for you

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Have you considered getting boots that are larger than your normal size and then wearing extra socks on your feet? I accidentally did that in that my wife picked out a set of mud boots that were a size too large. I put on an extra pair of socks to make my foot fit better, and it worked. I can get the boots on and off easier and my feet don't slip around inside the boots.

 

[Latestarter]

Normally around the home place I don't wear socks... Most of the time in the house I wear a pair of fleece lined moccasin slippers so when I need to go out, I slip my feet out of those and into my "work loafers" that I wear in the yard. If I'll be doing serious outside work or going someplace other than wallyworld, I'll put on socks and sneakers. Even then, if it will be a quick round trip, I'll sometimes just leave my moccasins on or slip on a pair of flip flops. Haven't worn dress shoes in a long long time... So ideally, a pair of "insulated" boots that I can slip on and off barefoot would be ideal. Like you said STA... I need them tight enough so my feet don't slide around too much, yet loose enough to get on and off easily and not irritate my calf. OK, enough about my footwear... on to more important things

Need to go pick up the feed I ordered today. Of course that means it's sprinkling out Can't have a dozen bags of feed getting wet on the hour ride home... Looked at the radar and it appears to be a weak band moving east and should be clear in a couple of hours. Wanted to get the drive done early but I guess it's gonna be later instead.

I recall mentioning that my rain gauge was lying... Did a detailed examination and indeed it is. I had broken the top of it with the weed whacker quite a while back but didn't notice that it had also caused a crack down the back corner to about the 1" mark. Might explain why with all the rain I've had it always seemed to be no more than ~ an inch and a quarter when I knew damned well it was 3-4 times that. Planning on picking up a new one today while out. I'd like to get one that I can mount on a T-post or pole so I don't have to worry about hitting it again.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Normally around the home place I don't wear socks... Most of the time in the house I wear a pair of fleece lined moccasin slippers so when I need to go out, I slip my feet out of those and into my "work loafers" that I wear in the yard. If I'll be doing serious outside work or going someplace other than wallyworld, I'll put on socks and sneakers. Even then, if it will be a quick round trip, I'll sometimes just leave my moccasins on or slip on a pair of flip flops. Haven't worn dress shoes in a long long time... So ideally, a pair of "insulated" boots that I can slip on and off barefoot would be ideal. Like you said STA... I need them tight enough so my feet don't slide around too much, yet loose enough to get on and off easily and not irritate my calf. OK, enough about my footwear... on to more important things

Need to go pick up the feed I ordered today. Of course that means it's sprinkling out Can't have a dozen bags of feed getting wet on the hour ride home... Looked at the radar and it appears to be a weak band moving east and should be clear in a couple of hours. Wanted to get the drive done early but I guess it's gonna be later instead.

I recall mentioning that my rain gauge was lying... Did a detailed examination and indeed it is. I had broken the top of it with the weed whacker quite a while back but didn't notice that it had also caused a crack down the back corner to about the 1" mark. Might explain why with all the rain I've had it always seemed to be no more than ~ an inch and a quarter when I knew damned well it was 3-4 times that. Planning on picking up a new one today while out. I'd like to get one that I can mount on a T-post or pole so I don't have to worry about hitting it again.

Sorry to bug you again...I know I don't buy as much feed in one trip as you do ...but when its raining (usual for this part of fl.) We have a box of extra large lawn and leaf bags that i keep in the truck...have used them for bales of hay, feed and then reuse them for another project...my trips are about six bags and four bales....Hope ya have a great day latestarter

 

[Mike CHS]

Joe - they aren't useful for any mud work but one of my Christmas gifts was a new pair of Crocs that are insulated. and slip on