Advice needed on gravel road ditches

[woodchuckie]

With a slight rise or dip in the road you can send the water to the other side of the drive where the water can continue down hill off of your drive. This is the method I use on my drive and trails where water could be a problem. Those ditches will really grow over the years.

 

[tommu56]

You need to get water on the other side of the road down hill with a pipe under the road so it doesn't get up momentum and volume to erode the stone / dirt after the pipe dump it on rip rap to prevent erosion on the down hill side of the road


www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/.../roads/gravel_road_manual.pdf

www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/Chapter7-IC4011_269903_7.pdf

page 2 of this document shows the spacing for water bars for the pitch pipes would be the same distance!

tom

 

[Kosmo]

Yup,

Got pipes just maybee not enough of them. Thanks

 

[Kosmo]

With the steep hill on the ditch side makes the ditches necessary, otherwise the road would have to be banked to the downhill side and driving in the winter on ice would be quite an adventure. I would also think that trying to move the water away over the road surface by depressions would just result in surface washouts during heavy downpours. This road runs on a steep hilside. Maybe I just need more culverts under the road. Thanks for the input

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Just lining the ditch with baseball sized rock would probably stop erosion, I doubt the water would move rock that size. Order gabion rock from the rock company.

If you install culverts to divert the water, remember that the culvert outfall will undercut a lot over time. Get it away from the road or you will have slides on that side. Armoring the outfall with large rocks will cut erosion there.

 

[Lloyd_E]

My buddy had the same problem. We dug down about 2'. Laid 1" plus stone a foot deep, added a perforated wiping pipe(about 250+feet) covered in landscape fabric, from top to bottom into culvert, than placed another foot of stone on top. We than added an inch or two of class a. He has a wider driveway now. No snow or ice build up and no erosion. Your second image is similar to his drive - opposite his driveway is a 8-10' drop at about 50 degrees.

Hope this helps.

 

[Pirate]

Just lining the ditch with baseball sized rock would probably stop erosion, I doubt the water would move rock that size. Order gabion rock from the rock company.

If you install culverts to divert the water, remember that the culvert outfall will undercut a lot over time. Get it away from the road or you will have slides on that side. Armoring the outfall with large rocks will cut erosion there.

Larry, I found the large rocks will stop the water, but they will also stop the leaves, and smaller gravel, and dirt. Trying to clean all that stuff out of a ditch filled with baseball sized rocks is a PITA.

 

[DennisArrow]

Larry, I found the large rocks will stop the water, but they will also stop the leaves, and smaller gravel, and dirt. Trying to clean all that stuff out of a ditch filled with baseball sized rocks is a PITA.

Actually, for me, that is what I want. The large rocks actually act as small dams that cause the ditch to fill up with smaller rocks, leaves, and sediment. Some folks have advised that the ditch will keep getting deeper and deeper. This is how one combats that. Sometimes one puts these "dams" every few feet, depending upon the slope, and other times just are used to slow the water down on longer runs...........

They work and cause the level of the ditch to fill back in........Keeps the grand canyon effect from getting too bad.......God bless......Dennis