Galveston County Road & Bridge has established this culvert policy to accomplish the following:

• Provide adequate access to resident’s property.
• Maintain a minimum standard of open ditch capacity within the county’s drainage system.
• Minimize conflicts between neighboring residents due to drainage.
• Provide a comprehensive list of requirements.

Culvert Installation Policies

Residents requesting culvert installation for driveway extension or new driveway must call the Road and Bridge Department located at 5115 Highway 3 in Dickinson at (281) 534-4152 for assistance. Driveway culverts must be set by the Road and Bridge Department on roads and right-of-ways in the county maintenance system. The Department cannot set culverts in TXDOT right-of-ways or on private roads.

A request for driveway access permit can only be made by the property owner of the addressed property adjacent to the county ditch.

Culvert cannot be removed by private residents or by request from private residents.

Property owners will provide the culvert for the installation. The county will only accept new culverts made of reinforced concrete (RCP) or doubled walled high density polyethylene (HDPE).

The driveway culvert will be limited to a minimum inside diameter of 12”, a minimum length of 20 feet, and a maximum length of no greater than 50% of the lot frontage. For corner lots, the secondary frontage may have a maximum of 20 feet.

A surface inlet with grate is required every 50 feet of installed culvert.

Any requests to place a culvert within 5 feet or less of the property corner will require an inlet with grate at the property corner. If the adjacent property’s culvert is within 5 feet from their property corner, the property owner requesting to connect to the adjacent property will provide the Road and Bridge Department with the neighbor’s acceptance and cover all cost for the connection to the adjacent culvert.

All inlets with grates must be a minimum of 2 tenths of a foot (2 3/8”) below the county road and adjacent property. If the minimum of 2 tenths cannot be achieved, the culvert length will be limited to the shortest length or approved location not requiring an inlet.

Any right of way that has minimal depth for drainage will not be required to have a driveway culvert. Such driveways will only be allowed if they follow the contour of the ditch and the finished surface of the driveway is no higher than the flow line of the ditch as determined by a manager of Road and Bridge Department.

The Owner will be responsible for notifying the County that the culverts have been delivered and for flagging both ends of the desired driveway location (flags provided). The County will NOT sell, provide, pick-up, or deliver culvert pipe.

Unpaved driveways shall be covered with a standard flexible base material within the right-of-way.

The County will allow the private paving of culverted area within the right-of-way. For concrete pavement, the County requires an expansion joint at the right-of-way line, or either side of the drainage pipe twice the width of the pipe. The elevation of the pavement shall not exceed the surface of the county road, and must grade into the grated inlet within the culverted section of the ditch. The location, elevation of the pavement, and grade into the grated inlet must be approved in advance of placement by the Road and Bridge Department.

The county will not maintain the private pavement, and if the County has need to increase the size of an existing drainage ditch parallel to a county road or drainage easement, the county will not replace the privately placed pavement.

Driveways that have been installed without an approved driveway access permit and have been found to hinder drainage or violate one of the above regulations will be removed and placed on the adjacent offending property.

Culvert Installation Procedures

1. Residents requesting culvert installation for driveway extension or new driveway must call the Road and Bridge Department at (281) 534-4152 to initiate the permit process.

2. A work order will be forwarded to the appropriate Drainage Manager for an on-site inspection to determine the correct diameter of pipe, number of inlets needed to be purchased, and if the culvert is the initial driveway.

3. The resident will receive a call from the Drainage Manager informing them what size culverts are needed and the number of inlets.

4. After the culverts are purchased and on site where they are to be set, the resident must go to the Road Department office at 5115 Highway 3 in Dickinson (or 920 Noble Carl Rd on the Bolivar Peninsula) to complete the permit information and pay the installation fee for work to be performed.

5. Culverts are installed at $19.82 per foot of culvert. Galveston County will discount the initial access to a property of a maximum 20 feet at a flat fee of $258.00. Galveston County only accepts credit cards (Visa, Master Card, and Discover) money orders, or cashier’s check (no cash or personal/business check) made payable to the County of Galveston.

6. The Drainage Manager will add the new permit to the schedule of culverts to be installed.

a. Installations are scheduled for Fridays, weather permitting.

b. Bolivar: Installations are scheduled for Wednesdays, weather permitting.

7. If any additional information is needed, please call the Road and Bridge Department at (281) 534-4152.