The Use of the T-culvert Guard to Protect Road Culverts from Plugging Damage by Beavers

Since 1978 t h e r e has been a cont i -nual e f f o r t by Region 9 o f t h e New York S ta te Department o f Env i ronmenta l Conservat ion t o develop dev i ces capable o f p r o t e c t i n q road c u l v e r t s f rom p l u g g i n g damageWby beavers (Cas to r canadens is) . Var ious p r o t e c t i v e dev i ces were developed. The most succ e s s f u l was t h e T c u l v e r t guard. T r i a l i n s t a l l a t i o n s o f T c u l v e r t guards were made a t 4 s i t e s expe r i enc ing beaver damage. T c u l v e r t s c o n s i s t e d o f a 4 f t. o r l a r g e r d iameter c u l v e r t and a smal l e r d iamete r c u l v e r t which connected i t t o t h e road c u l v e r t . D i r ec t i o n s f o r c o n s t r u c t i o n , i n s t a l l a t i o n and maintenance o f T c u l v e r t s a r e given. Costs f o r a t y p i c a l 4 ft. d iameter T c u l v e r t a t 1985 p r i c e s were $226.00 f o r ma te r i a1 s, $1 60.000. f o r backhoe r e n t a l and 3 worker days f o r l a b o r . Average annual maintenance c o s t was es t imated t o be .27 worker days and .27 h rs . o f backhoe t ime. T c u l v e r t s a l l e v i a t e d beaver damage by concea l i ng f l ows which were cons idered d e t e c t a b l e t o beavers. I t i s be1 i eved t h a t these dev ices may prove u s e f u l i n p r o t e c t i n g water l e v e l c o n t r o l s t r u c t u r e s such as a r e used i n ponds and marshes.