"Plugging holes" in stream wall

JohnSr · Jul 11, 2006

Looking for some advice for my brother. He has a natural stream that runs near his home. Recently, after much rain, there was tremendous flooding in the area. The water flow has returned to normal but now water is seeping through an embankment that is soaking his driveway.

Other than damming and temporarily redirecting the water to "repair" the area, does anyone know of a simpler method? Would a mixture of fine and coarse sand plug up the leaks?

We would appreciate any advice!

John

firemanpat2910 · Jul 12, 2006

I am by no means an expert and I havent stayed at a holiday inn for a while but this needs to be fixed soon. Is there a culvert under the drive? how is the water getting to the drive? how deep is normal compared to flood? I have used RIPWRAP wich is cement in a poly sack that you use like a sand bag to do simular repairs. And I have had to help rip out a 6' culvert and build a 20'.
long bridge when we did not catch a rusted out culvert in time,and hurricane Denis washed it away. If you can fix it right, right now it will save a lot of time and money. can you get some pictures?

EddieWalker · Jul 12, 2006

What ever you put along the bank will have to withstand erosion, othewise, the next heavy rain will just wash it away.

I've seen sacks of concret with rebar hammered through them laid along the side of streems to be very effective. Just dig down a few feet for the first layer and start stacking them like bricks. Then pound lengths of rebar right through the sacks. In time, they will harden and become a permanent barrier. The paper will rot away on it's own too.

Cheap, simple and effective.

Eddie

gotrocks · Jul 12, 2006

http://mdc.mo.gov/documents/fish/aquaguides/2_070.pdf

Go here and scroll down to Bentonite (sp) see if this is a possible solution.

JohnSr · Jul 12, 2006

Thank you for the replies... I will take some pictures the next time I go up there to help. I believe he has started on re-directing the water already and has dug a temporary trench to divert the water away from the driveway area so it can dry out. Of course we're getting more rain now so it will take even longer. I did find some info on the Bentonite also but I thought the area had to be completely drained to apply. It sounds like that might be a good thing to try.