Rainwater washing out my NEW road

[Johno Geo]

Sounds like you spend some money on the road contractor and expected a good result.
I have found the following:
You need to start with a topographical map of the area showing what the County says the elevations are.
Then you hire a surveyor and Engineer to design a road with a drainage plan.
Then you need to stand out there, in a heavy rain to see it it all makes sense, as the County Topos are not always correct.
Then you hire the Excavator to impliment the plan.
If you already have the road, get out there in the rain, assess the problems and I am sure a good excavator can finish/fix it for you.
If you hire a lawer, you will waste lots of $ trying to recover from folks who probaly have no assets.
Lawyers are red ink.... period.
good luck

 

[crazyal]

I hope you don't have frost down there. Around here that would be a great trail for an atv or a summer road across flat ground but not much more. I would go to a lawyer and let him read your agreement. I would also like to know just how much was spent on the road, did all $10k get spent? If not did you get half of what was not spent back?

Personally from what I've read here (not the same as reading your contract) the contract was for an all weather road that was to be paid for 50/50 with a cap on your side of $5k. Was it written in that the seller was also capped at $5k or was any cost above $10k was solely his burden?

 

[mjncad]

Lawyers are red ink.... period.

EXCELLENT! :thumbsup:

 

[bill333]

You have received some great advice here from some people that are far more expert than I am. Just a few things to add that I didn't see mentioned, and maybe a few stopgap measures to take in case you don't get resolution soon via the legal route. (I agree with the previous poster that this an expensive problem to solve correctly).

We have a driveway very similar in length/slope to yours. When I moved here it had an okay base, some ditches, and some culverts that were mostly blocked up.

A few things:

1. a few extra culverts really help. Here is where the idea of seeing where the rainwater washes down the drive can help you locate them. We noticed a big change when we went from the 2 culverts we had to 5. (The number also depends on how many turns you have).

2. use larger diameter culverts. So many are 8 inches; these quickly plog with leaves, etc. We put in the plastic (not sure of the material, but not the metal) larger ones, I think about 18 inches) and they have not plogged up in over 5 years. You can just use a leaf blower to keep them clean.

3. don't put rocks in your culvert. I know a lot of people do, but the culverts will then fill up with leaves and twigs that get caught up on the rocks, filling it in and making the water run over the road. We took all our rocks out and replaced with grass (use the stapled down bedding to get it started). A huge difference. The only downside is that you have to mow the ditches; to make this easy, make them more of a swale so you can get the mower along the edge. If you do use rocks, round ones are better than sharp edged ones.

4. If you get snow, make the driveway wider in spots so you will have places to dump the snow and also to turn the tractor around. My tractor with the FEL and rear blade is 24 feet long, and it simply cannot be turned around easily on my driveway, a huge problem with a lot of snow.

5. Top gravel. There are alot of different types of the gravel that goes above the bed. If you get a larger rockier kind, it tends to sag and is hard to snow plow. I have found the best is something called "21A". Not sure if that is the common name, but it has a small amount of dirt or tiny ground gravel in it. It is more expensive, but once packed down, it gets almost as hard as asphalt and requires minimum maintenance. We have to do only minor grading once a year.

6. I second the poster who said that finding someone who really knows how to grade is key. I've seen a few guys who can create a beautiful crown in one pass. A heavier tractor helps (my 35 hp is way too light) but most of it is the skill of the driver. I hired a specialist to come in with the 21A and to do the grading, and it really was worth it. The gravel delivery guys are so good that when they deliver the top layer they spread it with the dumptrucks nice and evenly.

Best of luck in your situation.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Thanks guys and PAUL..:ashamed:..I had to laugh at the "chastising" There is nothing I would have liked more than being at the site while all this was going on but I was just changing planes. That required almost 3 months of 6 days a week. No absence is accepted. Sooooo, I just had to go on photos and the "word" of the builder and Realtor. I absolutely agree that it needed and still does need traffic to pack it down. When 767 school was over and 3 weeks of "line training" completed it was December. SNOW...the last year had dropped over 5 FEET of snow in the Shenandoah valley and it didn't seem to be a good idea to take my Florida butt up there with that risk.
We'll just try to correct or at least improve what is there. Ditches, a heavily rocked dip or two, a culvert or two and seeding the slopes. Then lots of gravel and hundreds of car/tractor packing. Sure wish I had more time to go up there. I retire in 2.5 years, then I'm thinking a small house and well and septic and electricity....hmmm, am I crazy?:laughing:

Do you know anybody in the area that would by willing to drive a single trip on it every day that the surface is firm? A little carefully tailored driving and observation of conditions would be worth paying for.
larry

 

[Boeing]

That's a good idea SPYDERLK.....where are you located? All jokes aside, the property and the 3 adjacent are all wooded forests....with locked gates or cables from the state road. No one lives there.....don't know anyone except the realtor and he's real busy. Even the developer lives out of state. Guess I need to go to the "local" breakfast place and meet some of the old timers (like me) Need to meet some hunters too, bowseason follows deer-plot planting season Most of my fussin' has been on the rain washing the road out but another issue is the GRADE of the road.....the last 100 yards or so climb at about a 20 degree angle. THAT was never addressed during the contract talks. The seller DID know that I planned on building and there is a 100 degree turn followed by the 20+ degree climb. I don't think that a Lowe's truck could do that. My front wheel SUV started spinning when I tried to bring in 1000# of lime last month. I had to unload the lime before it would climb that hill Then go back with the tractor to get the lime:confused2: Thanks for all the input guys....are you near Lexington, Spyder?

 

[SPYDERLK]

Orange. About a hundred miles. Too far to drive on your road.
larry

 

[Ranger Rick]

Orange. About a hundred miles. Too far to drive on your road.
larry

Larry, Hi neighbor, I am at Zion crossroads just a few miles south of you. Too far for me to drive on the road also. Rick

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Very pretty area. Are you east or west of I81? I have been looking for property down the Shenandoah valley, but have been concentrating on further north.

 

[Boeing]

Just WEST of I-81 Beautiful hills and Mtns.
BUT......I learned that if you are a deer hunter the season is alot longer if you are EAST of the blue ridge. Didn't know that when I bought.