French drains for ranch road erosion ?

[bcarwell]

I have a long (2000) ft.0 ranch road that goes down a very slight (maybe 5-10 degree, almost unnoticeable) slope. It's surfaced with road base and over the years has worn to be about to barely above grade level and has a couple slight tire ruts- just enough so that whenever it rains, gradually very small streams form in the ruts, continuing the erosion. The streams start at one end only maybe an inch wide and 1/2 inch deep, but get bigger as you go down the road until at the worst they're maybe 5 inches wide and an inch deep at the very end of the road after a hard rain for 8 hours or so (fortunately not all that often here in Central Texas.)

I don't have the budget right now to properly resurface the entire road and raise it above grade and put a crown on it. So I'm wondering if periodically- maybe every 300 feet- I can put some sort of French drain perpendicularly across the road to break up the two tire track streams so they don't cumulatively get so big down the road.

Specifically I was thinking about digging a trench perpendicularly across the road at maybe a 10 degree downward angle, putting in the trench a 5 inch piece of pvc with holes in the top, covering it up to the road level with gravel, and then digging a 3 or 4 foot pit on the side of the road filled with gravel where the pvc would empty in to. Wash, rinse, repeat every 300 feet or so. Sounds like work but its cheap and its too expensive to do the alternative, e.g. resurface the road. I'm just trying to break up the pattern of continuing erosion where my little patches of road base on pot holes don't just get washed away in the next rain.

Any suggestions, solution, advice would be most welcomed.

Bob

 

[beenthere]

Don't know what you mean by French drains. But your plan to make slight depressions across the drive for water to run off rather than stay in the drive tracks certainly should help. At least until you get a chance to put that crown in and have the water run to the sides without staying in the depression from tires. Would have been better sooner, rather than later. But now is better than later too.

What equipment do you have to maintain the drive now? A grader blade that will angle and getting the existing road graded to get the crown in it would be best, as well as have ditch drainage on both sides for water. A culvert where the water has to cross the road is good too.

 

[spurlocktool]

Specifically I was thinking about digging a trench perpendicularly across the road at maybe a 10 degree downward angle, putting in the trench a 5 inch piece of pvc with holes in the top, covering it up to the road level with gravel, Bob

Bob, from what I've read the perforated drain pipe should be installed with the holes facing down. That is supposed to make them less likely to clog with dirt. It sounds counterintuitive at first, but if you think about it the water will always follow the path of least resistance. In this case that is down through the gravel sorrounding the pipe, then through the holes into the hollow pipe. It won't just run back out the holes because the whole trench is full of water trying to find somewhere to flow.

 

[rekees4300]

Specifically I was thinking about digging a trench perpendicularly across the road at maybe a 10 degree downward angle, putting in the trench a 5 inch piece of pvc with holes in the top, covering it up to the road level with gravel, and then digging a 3 or 4 foot pit on the side of the road filled with gravel where the pvc would empty in to.

I doubt this would be very effective. The pits aren't going to be big enough to contain a heavy rain. Until you can resurface I think your best bet it is put a crown in the middle of the road and dig a ditch on each side.

 

[maybar]

I've seen small (like 6 inch high x 2 ft wide) berms placed across drives to direct water and slow the velosity. This may be more effective and less cost than french drains that may or may not handle the water and surely silt closed over time.

 

[dave1949]

I am guessing that 90% of the running water will wash right over the buried pipe and continue down the driveway. Open trenches that are like a gentle swale with a slight downhill angle would be better IMO. This keeps the water from accumulating into a small stream in each tire track. Of course, the swales need to be gradual enough to drive through comfortably without bottoming out and probably need to be lined with heavy stone in their bottoms.

Pics would help, maybe all you need is to use a landscape blade a couple times a year.
Dave.

 

[tommu56]

Bob put a couple water bars across the road

Google it

I put some on my cabin road it deflects water off the road they go diagonally across the road down hill.
They also cut the speed= erosion

you can do the same thing with some conveyor belt and some 2x6 long to go across the road diagonally.

tom