Ditches and Driveway Culverts

A well maintained drainage system help drain areas of rain and snow melt protecting both private and public property. That’s safer for our community and also supports the town in addressing climate change impacts.  

Driveway culverts and roadside ditches are important parts of the town’s drainage system. As homeowners, you are responsible for maintaining the roadside ditches and driveway culvert on your property if your home is located in an area with a ditched roadway drainage system.  

Care, maintenance and replacement of driveway culverts are homeowner responsibilities as the culvert is installed to provide access to your property.    

Routine maintenance of roadside ditches is also a homeowner's responsibility.

If you are a homeowner, take note of the following information and practical tips to help you maintain the driveway culverts and ditches on your property effectively.

Driveway culvert care and maintenance 

• Inspect your culvert and (if applicable) headwall regularly – at least once a year  – to ensure that it is free of any obstructions.  Inspect your culvert during both wet and dry weather conditions using a flashlight or your phone camera.  
• In wet and dry weather conditions, check the culvert under your driveway to ensure smooth flow of water without any blockages.  
• Keep your driveway culvert clean and clear of materials like leaves, twigs, rocks or other debris. Use common garden tools, high- pressure water, buy or rent a culvert cleaning tool to check for any blockages. If you have difficulty clearing any material or blockages, reach out to Service Oakville who will arrange for the town’s operations staff to investigate and assist as needed. 
• Check both ends of your culvert to ensure that they are not crushed, as this will obstruct the flow of water.  
• Typical driveway culverts are constructed of corrugated steel pipe (CSP).  As your culvert ages, the CSP  will eventually rust, and the culvert – and perhaps your driveway – will start to sag or form holes on the driveway surface. This is a sign that your driveway culvert is in need of replacement.  
• Check your culvert after any large vehicles have been to your property to ensure that it is still in good working condition.  Large vehicles have the potential to crush driveway culverts. 
• Do not place any plants or landscaping materials such as rocks or pavers near the ends of your culvert to ensure that flow will be unobstructed. 

Driveway culvert replacement 

• When replacing your culvert, choose one with the same or larger  diameter. Driveway culverts are available at many garden or building supply centres. 
• Before commencing any work, contact Ontario OneCall to request locates for utilities which may be located in the area  of your culvert so that the utility companies can mark the location of all utilities in the area
• In accordance with the Municipal Right of Way By-law, an excavation permit is required when replacing a driveway culvert. Review the Excavation and Temporary Occupation Permit Procedure page for more information.  
• Ensure your culvert has a positive slope in the direction of flow – ideally one to two per cent crossfall. For a typical culvert with a length of six metres, a one per cent crossfall can be achieved by placing the outfall of the culvert six centimetres lower than the inlet of the culvert. 
• Ensure that your culvert alignment and elevations follow the crossfall of the incoming and outgoing ditches as to allow proper drainage. If you require any assistance, please reach out to Service Oakville for a Road Operations staff to be assigned to  assist you. 

 Ditch maintenance 

• Routine maintenance such as grass cutting, including along roadside ditches, is the responsibility of the homeowner under By-law 2023-072 and 2024-002. 
• Do not place landscaping materials such as large rocks or plants such as shrubs in the ditch as this may block the flow of water 
• Do not “fill in” your ditch with pipes and/or landscaping materials to “flatten out” the roadway ditch system. Doing so could impact the town’s drainage system with negative consequences such as: flooding of your or a neighbour’s property or icing on the roadway, which could lead to a personal or a vehicular accident.
• Contact Service Oakville if you observe that works in your neighbourhood are causing an obstruction in your neighbourhood ditch drainage system.  

Town of Oakville Ditch Maintenance Works 

• If you notice that the ditch drainage system in your neighbourhood is not working correctly, contact Service Oakville for town staff to investigate. If you receive a notice from the town requesting that you undertake work on your ditch or driveway culvert, please comply with the request to help ensure a properly functioning drainage system. If you require guidance on how to reinstate your ditch or driveway culvert, please reach out to Service Oakville for assistance. 

Benefits of roadside ditches 

• The main purpose of a roadside ditch is to protect the integrity of the road. Roads are designed to drain rain and snowmelt away from the road, toward the lower elevation of the roadside ditch. Once water reaches the ditch, it can flow along the ditch and eventually away from the roadway, protecting the stability of the road below surface. 
• Roadside ditches provide space for stormwater to be stored outside of the travelled portion of the roadway, reducing the potential for cars to lose control due to either hydroplaning or ice buildup.  
• Roadside ditches are part of the town’s green infrastructure and allow stormwater to infiltrate into the ground. They also help cleanse the stormwater that remains on the surface, removing contaminants such as sediment before it flows into creeks