Stopping Silt and Sand

[lakngulf]

My neighbor has become a little upset with some runoff from my tractor shed project. As you can see in the picture I have a small road/path downhill beside the shed I am building. This year we have had some gulley washing rains and the laws of nature sent the water, silt and sand downhill.

What are my best options for stopping any more erosion from the path while still maintaining it as a path. Also, at the bottom of the path what kind of silt/sand fence can I put in that will allow the water to go on through?

His property is downhill, and neither of us want me to build a new ditch to divert the water elsewhere (that would just make a bigger mess), we just want to hold up any material that erodes...sand/silt now, and it will be leaves after they fall this year.

Any help would be appreciated, a bit by me, and a lot by my neighbor.

 

[atgreene]

Do you have access to erosion control mulch? I do a lot of erosion control work and one of the best tools for dealing with erosion problems is ECM. It's nothing more than ground up stumps.

The State recognizes it as equivilent to silt fence for construction projects. A couple berms of ECM with a small berm of rip-rap stone, hay and seed any areas not used for traveling as well as some gravel for the traveled areas and you should be all set. Getting the water to slow down and travel cross hill will make a huge difference.

 

[sweettractors]

We have a steep road that gives us access to the sandbar on the Green river. Same problem as you have. We finally found a solution, Get those big rock that run from the size of a silver dollar to the size of a coffee mug or bigger. Spread those when it is damp to establish a good base and pack them in with a big tractor. Keep doing this until the rocks quit sinking into the dirt. Bingo you will not have runoff again. Ken Sweet

 

[Thomas]

Maybe for now line of bails hay w/gaps couple inches or so water can seep out..drive stake in middle of each bail.

 

[Mousefield]

Maybe for now line of bails hay w/gaps couple inches or so water can seep out..drive stake in middle of each bail.

This would be my idea as well. Up our way they do this in ditches where they have been doing work on the roads or roadside. They use straw or hay bales to slow down the water flow. In a long ditch they will put them every 50-100 feet depending on potential water flow and how steep the lay of the land is. Sometimes there will be 3-4-5 side by side to dam up the water flow yet allow some leakage. If the land is fairly flat then the will use a few of them to make a wall and curve it slightly, like a leaking dam.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I had washout issues with my last property. I had better luck with bales of straw when I butted them tight with two wooden stakes on the outside rather driving in a steel pin or rebar. When the bales started to break down, I would scoop up stakes and all and dump them in a place to rot away.

One particularly troublesome spot would still wash until I put in a double row of half lapped bales. I would have to scoop up the gravel on occasion and take it back up the hill.

 

[lakngulf]

I do a lot of erosion control work and one of the best tools for dealing with erosion problems is ECM. It's nothing more than ground up stumps.

Thanks all. Good ideas and keep them coming. QRTRHRS, Mousefield, and Thomas I like the quick method of some bails of straw. Sweet' I do have a fairly large pile of rip rap, but it is probably larger than the rock you have suggested. After one big rain I did put the big rock in the ditch that formed in the path, and it has helped to slow down and divert the water. This rock has already collected some sand. I will put some more of it down, especially the smaller ones, when the ground is damp.

atgreene, I had never heard of ECM but I am interested. Recently I hauled in 7 yards of hardwood mulch on my trailer. About a third of it is still on the trailer. Basically it is ground up hardwood, with some of the chips, pieces five or six inches long. Would that be the same as your ECM?

I think a good plan may be to use rock in the pathway, place some bales or mulch with rock in areas above the path and at the bottom of the path. I may just go all the way at the area closest to my neighbor---(1) a row of big rocks (2) a row of bales of straw (3) mulch chips piled up again the bales. Slowing down the water and diverting should help.

 

[sweettractors]

On the steep river bank that have been bull dozed, annual ryegrass mixed (short term) with fescue (long term) holds dirt really well real quick. Ken Sweet

 

[SPIKER]

the two quick methods are the straw bails (straw not hay) Straw bales need laid so that water can flow through them (through the stray stalks) or stakes and burlap material. it is best that BOTH be used. stake in the burlap just uphill of the straw so that the burlap filters the water and stops the larger sand/gravel letting the silt flow through the sand gravel further filtering it. the filtered water then goes through the straw bales and gets cleaned up more. there are also a black material that is plastic often used around construction sites. problem is it dont rot and will wrap up in a mower fast as it freys like a sweater

Mark

 

[atgreene]

Photos A. T. Greene Excavation & Snowplowing Pics 1,2 & 3 on my website show some ECM that I have used on jobs.

The key to good ECM is having the long stringy wood from grinding the stumps. If properly ground it is mixed with some small ammounts of dirt, small wood chunks and the stringy chunks that help lock it all together. The stringy pieces help to lock everything together. Water comes through an ECM berm clean with little to no sediment.

Sounds like what you have would work. If it is just wood chips from chipping it may not work as they tend to float away in the water. If you have some larger peices to lock it together it may work for you. Rip rap with ECM berms work the best, the rip rap slows the water and the ecm filters it.