Catch Basin Freezng
Catch Basin Freezng
(OP)
I am involved with a project where a catch basin is being installed and the pipes inlet and discharge pipes will be above the winter frost level and I have been told that the ground will still be warm enough around the catch basin and that any water that stays in it throughout the winter will not really freeze. The inlet and outlet pipes will be pitched so they will be void of water. Will the catch basin water freeze or not. This project is located on a private road in Maine and there will not be a lot of water flow throughout most of the winter unless we get a warm spell and a lot or rain prior to the spring thaw. I expect that the area around the catch basin will freeze but I have been told that it will not and that does not make sense to me. I am looking for input and experience with this. TY





RE: Catch Basin Freezng
RE: Catch Basin Freezng
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Catch Basin Freezng
Also, the inlet and discharge pipes are above the bottom and that is why I am concerned about the freezing.
RE: Catch Basin Freezng
RE: Catch Basin Freezng
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Catch Basin Freezng
RE: Catch Basin Freezng
RE: Catch Basin Freezng
RE: Catch Basin Freezng
Appreciate all of the input .....
RE: Catch Basin Freezng
When the air temp is below freezing, generally speaking no water is moving or melting - on the ground or in the pipes. When it's spring, and snowmelt is starting, the air is generally above freezing, so the air in the storm sewer is also above freezing and generally the snowmelt will travel through the inlets and pipes OK. But you will see this same water freezing (at least around here) at night. It's warm enough in the day for things to melt and move, but at night the temps drop below freezing and the water that was moving during the day freezes on the ground, in the inlet grates, the inlet sump and the storm pipes.
Maintenance guys around here spend a lot of time steaming out the culverts and sometimes the storm sewer systems. It should be noted that steaming out a culvert (open on both ends) is a lot easier than a storm sewer system. I've been designing drainage infrastructure around here for almost 15 years, and I avoid storm sewer systems as much as possible. Keeping the freezing water on the ground is a lot easier to deal with then sending it into a closed system like a storm sewer.
But sometimes storm sewer is necessary, and the freezing problems is something you just have to deal with, unless someone can come up with a new idea (us nerdy engineers up here always joke about creating an "atomic evaporator"). On another note, I have yet to see a concrete inlet break due to freezing, but all of the inlets we install are pre-fabricated inlets with concrete bottoms.
Good luck.
RE: Catch Basin Freezng
The system is collecting overflow water from a "wetlands of significance" - into a perforated catch basin (#1) lined with crushed stone for drainage - piped under the road (we cannot raise the elevation of the road) and connects to another perforated catch basin (#2) lined with crushed stone for drainage - and then is piped to a third catch basin (already installed by a land owner) on the same side of the road as catch basin #2 and then the water will discharge that landowners catch basin (#3) and flow through 190' of 12" underground ribbed pipe to a rip-rap filtration area before entering a lake. (The water discharge has been approved by our Department of Environmental Protection).
I had been told that the water in the catch basins would not freeze because of the warmth of the earth but as I indicated earlier that did not make any sense since frost/ground freezing should follow the contour of the land regardless of the depression caused by the depth of the catch basin.
Thanks again for all of the inputs........