Can anyone estimate the cost of converting a ditch to culverts?

Instead of weedeating, spray some roundup.

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Also, would I just have to get a permit from the parish/city to do so? I really have no idea what's involved.

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Yes! My previous home had an open ditch and was designated yo stay that way. Check with your homeowners association.

Lots of details, but there has to be a catch basin (drain) every 50-75 ft or so (in Lafayette).

Definitely a permitted job thru city IF allowed at all

We don't have a homeowners association. I actually want to have culverts for a couple reasons. I need some fill dirt in one spot in my lawn and I have a friend who runs a trucking company and will bring me free dirt, but he said his big truck will crack my driveway. I also need to gain a couple parking spots for parties. So the roundup method isn't an option.
I might just do one side of the driveway to start if the parish will even allow me to do it. The guy down the street doesn't have ditches, however I'm not sure if they were in place prior to any new regulations or what. I suppose I could walk down and ask him.

You are typically required to have a permit. You will probably also not be able to just drop a pipe into the ditch and cover it. You will need to dig it bigger to accommodate a larger culvert that will provide proper conveyance of water.

All of this is to ensure that your project doesn't cause drainage problems upstream for the following issues:

1. Open ditches provide much better water conveyance and additional storage during rain events.
2. Pipe/culverts laid too high (invert elevation) can cause pooling upstream (mosquitos) and affect flow.
3. Insufficient soil coverage (especially if you plan to drive over it ever) can result in collapse and loss of flow.

find some elephant ears growing somewhere and pull up a bunch and plant them especially if the ditch stays wet a lot...

I looked into the same thing here in slidell.

technically you don't need a permit unless you are covering large linear footage...even then you don't need a permit, the parish would just like to see a drawing/proposal for their peace of mind...

neighbor-I-5'open-I-(max of 50')-I-Catch basin-I

any existing driveway you have if connecting to counts towards the 50' measurement.

you have to have 4" of sand or gravel under the culvert
joints need to wrapped
has to have proper grade
Where I am culvert minimum is 15 inch, but if you are connecting to a larger downstream culvert(ex.18") then it has to be that size

call or email Jay Watson...he was very helpful with my project even though I decided not to do it...

Jay Watson
Development Engineer
Department of Planning and Development
St. Tammany Parish Government
21490 Koop Drive, Mandeville, LA 70471
p: 985.809.7448 e: jwatson@stpgov.org

It depends some ditches require 18" culverts while others require 48". Obviously there is a difference in cost.

Be careful. Open ditches have much larger carrying and storing capacity than culverts. There was a subdivision in Broussard which was designed with open ditch drainage but the city allowed and even helped some of the homeowners put in culverts and close ditches. Really bad sustained rain events happen every two years or so. Well, the next really bad sustained rain put water in a dozen houses because of the bottlenecks and reduced drainage capacity.

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Instead of weedeating, spray some roundup

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Or even better, Triox or equivalent.

I think I paid $400 for a 24', 24" galvanized culvert a month or so ago.

I'm wondering if when I call the parish I need to give them some kind of reason other than aesthetic and convenience purposes. "Well if you have a drainage issue well do them, but if you want them because you want a pretty lawn, then you have to pay."