fence across a creek

[xbred]

this spring i have to install some new fences...one will need to cross a creek that floods from time to time...any tips or tricks for building a fence across a creek?

[Cowdirt]

this spring i have to install some new fences...one will need to cross a creek that floods from time to time...any tips or tricks for building a fence across a creek?

I have a friend whose fence across the creek was always washed out after flooding. He told me he gave up on building it strong enough to stand flooding and took the opposite approach. He ties the fence together in the middle of the creek with ties just strong enough to hold in nomal circumstances and when it floods the ties break, the fence goes to each side of the creek. Soon as he can he pulls it together in the middle and re-ties. This way you don't have all the junk on the fence to deal with.

[novatech]

Cable run across creek over flood stage. Hang treated wood gates from cable (with more cable). When water rises current will push gate open and allows most of the trash to go through. Several gates may be necessary depending on the width of the creek.

[Hippie Rancher]

We do it like Cowdirt described, (call them water-gaps and it is part of the ritual of summer monsoons to go check ponds and water-gaps after a rain) but use wood posts and stays if you can - they seem to do better than t-posts - I guess they float up and maybe catch less debris that way. They sure seem easier to clean off.

If it is a short run or at an angle you can do the light tie on the downstream angle so you only have to clean one run of fence. Ideally you will have an H brace on each bank.

[T-Bro]

My bud in Arkansas has creeks fenced. He uses a swing type of fence.
More like a cheap panel fence section with a hinge at the top and tied w/ low tensile strength tie wire at the bottom.
When the creek floods, the tree limbs and other debris hits the bottom of the panel and the panel swings up on the swivel hinge.
It doesn't work every time, but most times, it saves a lot of work repairing the fence after heavy rains.

Wish I had a picture for you.

[Aaron]

Smooth electrified wire on metal T-posts is the way to go. We had a section that continually was being battered. Barbed wire, wooden posts and moving water don't mix. Also take the time to cut away a lot of the junk nearby on each side of the fence....so junk that does come down the river can keep on going and doesn't start build a dam of debris near the fence.

[Tim]

I saw one similar to what T-Bro described except this one had a 4" PVC pipe attached to the bottom of the panel, capped on both ends, and floated on top of the water. As the water rose the PVC stayed on top of the water and the panel, being hinged on both ends, swung out with the flow of the water.

[dyates]

I use 4 strands of barbed wire, no posts in creek. I use slick wire to make stays to keep the wire spacing and make them long enough to tie big rocks to the bottom. I also use ratchets at the last post/tree on either bank to make installation a little quicker. I would probably do things different if the creek bed wasn't solid limestone.

[grubbie]

Have tried several ways of floating gates, panels, whatever. For me in my situation, havent found anything no matter what I tried that I didn't have to rebuild every year. So I just make sure I have good H braces on either side of the water gap so it doesn't take out the whole fence, then run a few wires across and hang rocks, deadfall trees, posts,...or whatever is handy to the wires to pull them down to the "normal" water level. Quick and easy, and like I said, no matter how fancy I've tried to get, I have to rebuild it every year anyway. Seems like the water gaps are done around the end of May, then the real fencing begins, lasting until around November.

[Caustic Burno]

Cable run across creek over flood stage. Hang treated wood gates from cable (with more cable). When water rises current will push gate open and allows most of the trash to go through. Several gates may be necessary depending on the width of the creek.

To add run a cable from each side and join with cable clamps snugged up, if something big comes down the creek like a log the clamps will slide letting the water gap blow out. When the water goes down just reclamp it. This keeps from tearing up corner post and fence in a flood.

[iowafarmer]

We put several fences across a river each year. We use one to two strands of electric wires with the lowest strand of wire 7 inches above normal water level. Then we jsut put in a bunch of old t-posts with insulaters. Works great and is cheap and not much time invested and extremely easy to fix. Another way i saw was if you have high banks on each side was to take a chain that wa sreally big and strech it across the top with small peices of chain hanging down evey foot to the height a little above normal water level. Then it was electrified with a circut on it so that when the water rises it wont short out the whole fence. Not sure if it works though since i have never tried it becasue one bank is always high and the other is always low and it isn't pratical across large stretches.

[xbred]

thanks for all the good advice...

[Rocket1121]

When fencing across a water gap i take a piece of 1/4 inch cable and string it across the gap and tien it off solid on each side where the top wire of the fence would be if it ran straight across. Then i measure down from cable to about 2" above ground every 12" across gap numbering each measurement from one side of gap to the other.
Cut white 3"sch40 PVC pipe to this length then drill 3/8" hole all the way threw one end 4" down. Now cut some 3/4" PVC pipe 10" long for spacers to go between 3" pipes.Start with1- 3" pipe then spacer then 3" pipe ect. After getting them threaded on the cable I put cable clamp on it and trim the bottom off any that is hitting the creek bank or the ground with a chainsaw. White PVC will pivot on cable as trash washes by when water goes down they hang back straight. Will kind of blow around a little in the wind and keep cows back kind of works like a cattle guard.

[novatech]

Lot's of good ideas on here. Keep them coming.
No matter what is used, they all need to be checked periodical, especially after a big rain.
I think I could open a recycle center at one of mine next to the high way. It is amazing how may aluminum cans and plastic bottles that end up in these gaps.

[TexasBred]

Heck I just string a small cable across the creek, cut old roofing tin to the length I want and attach it to the cable. Punch holes, cut the next piece to fit and attach it to the top piece and so on. I moves up and down with the water flow and works well.