Headwalls Colac crews build for creek crossings and road drains
Headwalls Colac farms and road drains are the job. Crossing a paddock and getting that sinking feeling, or needing the cows on the other side of the creek? Finbuild builds the wall, the pipe or box, and the apron so the crossing stays put after a wet winter.
Headwalls Colac Otways work is the concrete end wall that holds the bank, keeps the pipe or box from washing out, and gives the water a clean way in and out. On a farm track it is the difference between a crossing you can use in June and a hole you fill every spring. On a driveway or road reserve it is the piece the shire expects to see finished properly.
Finbuild does the civil part in-house: set-out, excavation, precast or in-situ headwalls, pipe and box culverts, aprons, backfill and the track over the top. Drainage and plant sit with the same crew, so the job is not split across three contractors.
Headwalls Colac Otways, what we build
Headwalls Colac box culverts
Wing walls and a precast box, set in the cut and compacted before the road or track goes back over. This one was built with the excavator on the bank and the plate on the deck.
Road and embankment outlets
A box or pipe through a road batter, with the outlet clear of the fill. Traffic control stays up until the headwall and backfill are done.
Precast pipe headwalls
A standard pipe headwall with apron and wing walls, dropped into a prepared trench next to the culvert units. Faster than forming on site when the size and batter suit a precast unit.
Aprons and drain outlets
The apron is the slab in front of the wall. It stops the outlet scouring a hole under the headwall the first time the drain runs. Rock goes in beside it before the bank is put back.
Where a headwall earns its keep
Headwalls Colac properties use them on creek crossings, driveway pipes and road drains. The list below is the usual set.
- Creek and drain crossings on farms around Colac, Irrewillipe, Beeac, Birregurra and the Otways
- Driveway and crossover culverts, including the pipe under a new entrance
- End walls on stormwater lines, table drains and open channels
- Replacing a washed-out rock headwall or a pipe that has dropped at the outlet
- In-situ walls where a precast unit will not fit the batter or the angle
How a job runs
Look at the crossing
We check the fall, the bank, what is already in the ground, and whether the crossing sits in a road reserve or a designated waterway. Photos and a rough width are enough to start a quote.
Size and permit
Pipe or box size follows the catchment and any drawing or shire note you already have. A crossing in a council road reserve needs a Works Within a Road Reserve permit before the machine turns up. Surf Coast jobs use the Surf Coast Shire permit. A designated waterway also needs a Works on Waterways permit from Corangamite CMA, which covers culverts and creek crossings.
Excavate and place
Bed, culvert, headwalls and apron go in together. Precast where it suits. Formed on site where the batter, skew or outlet level needs it.
Backfill and track
Backfill, rock or pavement over the top, and the approaches shaped so water stays in the drain instead of on the track. Drainage work can be done in the same visit.
Headwall questions
Precast or poured on site?
Precast is faster when a standard pipe or box unit fits. We pour on site when the wing walls have to meet an odd batter, the outlet is skewed, or the unit will not crane in. Both are concrete. The choice is access and shape, not a different job.
Can you do a simple farm crossing without a full engineering set?
Yes for a private paddock track, once we have seen the creek and the traffic. A road reserve or a designated waterway usually needs approval first: the shire permit above, and a Corangamite CMA works-on-waterways permit if the crossing is on a designated waterway. Council construction standards for drains in the road reserve sit in the Infrastructure Design Manual.
Do you supply the pipe or box?
We can supply and install, or install units you have already ordered. Tell us the diameter or the box size, or send a photo of the existing pipe, and we will match the headwall to it.
What area do you cover?
Colac Otways, Corangamite, Surf Coast and the rest of south-west Victoria. Yard at 795 Tomahawk Creek Rd, Irrewillipe. Call 0411 982 708.
Send a photo of the crossing
A picture of the creek, the dropped pipe or the bog hole is enough for a first look. We will tell you whether it is a headwall job, a drainage job, or both.
