Drainage

[project_X]

Hi All,
I have a drainage problem in my yard. I have 57 acres on which my house resides in the corner of my yard, there is a particularly low area that during this time of the year is about 50 feet across and 60 feet wide and up to 30 inches deep. My yard and my pasture (about 80 feet from my yard seem to drain into this depression. I also have a drainage ditch that runs on two sides of my yard that drains from the surrounding area (the tile from my house and sump pump also drains into this ditch). This ditch is approximately 135ft from the center of the depression, ther however is a rise ~6ft from the top to the bottom of the depression. I will add some pics to ilustrate. During the summer it is dry unless it rains for 3 consecutive days and then it begins to become swampy.

What does everyone suggest to remove this area?

Cheers,
Rob

 

[project_X]

Here are the pictures

 

[RonMar]

Is the low point of the depression higher or lower than the ditch? If higher, rent a trackhoe and cut a trench and install a drainage pipe between lowpoint and ditch. If lower than the ditch, dig it out a bit, line it and make it into a pond

 

[Harvster]

Trout pond! That little guy would love it in a couple years.

 

[project_X]

I have yet to measure, but I believe the low point is higher than the bottom of the ditch. I will make the measurements over the weekend.

My only reservation is the large rise between the ditch and the lowpoint, which will make the trench very deep at the rise (ie. 7 ft below the surface).

 

[project_X]

I live in a Ottawa, Canada and the ground freezes, I assume I will need to bury the drain below the frost line, if the depression is high enough to accomodate this and still be above the bottom of the ditch.

any thoughts?

 

[BTDT]

Can you catch it when it's dry, and just fill it in? Seems like a lot less work. Build it up higher that surrounding area, and water will run off of it. Sometimes dirt can be had for free.

 

[coachgrd]

Sometimes dirt can be had for free.

So true. Sometimes all it takes is a "Clean fill wanted sign" and a little luck. I had a low spot in my front yard and posted a sign. My wife said no one would ever dump there. About a week after I put my sign up, a local car dealer stopped and asked me if I wanted the side of a hill he was having torn out.

55 tri-axels of dirt later, my wife thought the sign was a good idea.

 

[MarkV]

I live in a Ottawa, Canada and the ground freezes, I assume I will need to bury the drain below the frost line, if the depression is high enough to accomodate this and still be above the bottom of the ditch.

any thoughts?

I would not worry about the frost line for a drain. As long as the drain is laid with a constant down hill slope it will not be holding water.

MarkV

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm curious how it came about? Are you the original owner? I can't imagine a contractor grading out the yard who would leave such an obvious low spot. It's possible, but I think the ground settled there over the years to create the depression. That said, I think you have three options.

One is to dig a ditch to drain the water. This is cheap, very effective and fairly easy. Unfortunatly, it's also ugly and will take some effort to feather it out so it blends in with the rest of your lawn and not be an eyesore.

You can drain it with a variet of pipeing systems. The more complicated you make it, the more money it will cost and the more likely it is to fail. Most drainage pipes fail over time anyway, so it's just how long. This will require digging a trench, installing the pipe, installing a drain collection area, then backfilling and smoothing it all out. The drain will be a constant maintenance issue to keep debri, leaves and dirt out of it. Some have catch basins in them that you can clean out periodicly to cut down on the build up inside the pipe.

The third option, and the way I'd go is to fill it in. Buy dirt, or have a sign as suggested asking for clean fill. It doesn't looke like a very large area, and it's shallow enough that it wont eat up allot of fill, so I'd lean towards just buying one load of dirt. Spread it out and see where you stand from there. One might be enough, but it could take two or more. In my area, it's about $50 for a ten yard load of dirt. That's allot cheaper then the drainage pipes will run you and when it's all done, you will never have any maintenance issues.

Good luck,
Eddie