This experimental study examines load and exerted on driftwood entrapment structures, and its entailing height in sections with steep gradients. Flume experiments were conducted, during which water and driftwood models were allowed to flow down and collide with a modeled driftwood capturing structure. The process was recorded using a video camera, and the loads were measured with load cells. The maximum capturing height of the driftwood increased with the flow rate, ranging from 0.5 to 1.3 times the length of the inflowing driftwood. The collision load of a group of driftwood was found to be approximately 2.5 to 4.7 times that of the single driftwood collision in our experiments. The collision loads of single real‐size driftwood are compared with each other based on some prediction methods known in past research. The estimated load based on the Froude similarity law from these experiments is smaller than predictions obtained from the research.