New or Changed Driveways Need a County Culvert Permit

A driveway off a county road is really a drainage decision in disguise. Cut a new driveway and culvert in Brazoria County, or change an existing one, and you need a driveway and culvert permit first.

The application goes to the Brazoria County Engineering Office, which takes it by fax, mail, hand delivery, or email and works from its driveway and culvert installation policy for the technical specs — pipe size, placement, how the water has to keep moving along the ditch.

That's the part worth getting right the first time. A culvert that's too small or set wrong dams up the roadside drainage and floods the neighbor as much as you, and tearing one back out to redo it costs far more than permitting it cleanly. Talk to Engineering before you hand a contractor the job, not after the dirt's already moved.