What a culvert costs in Fort Myers
Culverts run about $80 to $100 a foot, depending on the size of the culvert. The length is set by the driveway width and the swale, and the pipe size is set by the city or county permit.
Those are Chop's own ranges. Your exact price comes after he sees the lot, and the quote is free: call or text (239) 560-2996.
Inside the city: RCP, mitered ends, the City Engineer's grade
The city detail names reinforced concrete pipe at 15 inches as the minimum, so we plan on RCP unless the City Engineer approves something else. The same sheet covers the apron. A concrete apron is 6 inches thick with no mesh, and no reinforcing is allowed in concrete within the right-of-way. An asphalt drive gets 1 1/2 inches of asphalt over a 6-inch compacted lime rock base on compacted subgrade, and where there is a sidewalk, it runs 6 inches thick straight through the driveway. We build that base too; see driveways and base rock.
The grade is not ours to choose. Under the city's drainage notes, Public Works sets the swale, culvert and driveway grades, and runoff has to reach the city system in the right-of-way. We wait for those numbers, set the pipe invert to them and check it before backfill. The city also keeps standard details for placed rock at culvert outlets, for spots where water leaving the pipe would scour the ditch.
Outside the city: Lee DOT and AC-11-12
In unincorporated Lee County the rules are in Administrative Code AC-11-12. The minimum pipe is 15 inches or its 12 by 18 inch equivalent, and reinforced concrete, ADS double wall, A-2000 or a technical equivalent are allowed. All pipes need mitered ends cut to at least 3:1, and ADS or A-2000 also needs a poured concrete miter end apron. The apron from the edge of the road to the right-of-way line has to be concrete or asphalt.
Lee DOT takes residential driveway permits online and lists the permit fee at $95 for a single driveway and $120 for a double. Its inspections run 750 stakeout, 751 culvert, 752 form, 753 finish limerock and 754 final. Our Lee County culvert rules guide walks through each one.
Replacing an old pipe on an established street
Plenty of older Fort Myers homes have a driveway pipe that has rusted out, crushed at the ends or silted half full. When the street floods in front of one house and not the next, that pipe is often why. A replacement in the right-of-way is permitted work under either standard, and it gets built to the current rules, not to whatever went in decades ago.
We cut out the apron if we have to, pull the old pipe, re-dig the swale to the grade the inspector sets, lay the new pipe with mitered ends and compact the backfill in layers so the drive does not dip over it. Then we shape the swale on both sides so water reaches the next pipe down the street.
For builders on new homes
On a new house the culvert sits between the pad and the flatwork. We like to set it after the pad, once the garage floor height is fixed, so the drive climbs from the swale to the garage at a slope that works and the apron lands where the inspector expects it. If we are also building the house pad in Fort Myers, the pad, drive and pipe all come from one set of grades. Our Fort Myers page covers our other work around town.
