Washout-proofing a ditch

[bcp]

Some rip-rap-ditches:

2015 Municipal Projects

Baker Hill Road The Schuyler County Soil and Water Conservation District was able to secure the funding to place over 370 tons of rip rap to stabilize 1,450’ of road ditch.

www.schuylerswcd.com

Bruce

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Some rip-rap-ditches:

2015 Municipal Projects

Baker Hill Road The Schuyler County Soil and Water Conservation District was able to secure the funding to place over 370 tons of rip rap to stabilize 1,450’ of road ditch.

www.schuylerswcd.com

Bruce

Those tonnage amounts sound crazy! And my driveway is longer than some of those projects. How many tons does a 7 cubic foot truckload of rock weight? Maybe it sounds like more than it is.

Anyway, good to know. I'm thinking I would have to substantially widen my ditch for rip-rap, which would mean a lot of tree work since the driveway is forested on both sides. Keeping trees out of the ditch is half my clearing battle.

 

[airbiscuit]

For about fifty bucks, you could give this a try. It would slow the velocity of the water and trap the gravel.

 

[CalG]

Around here. if the water slows down, it backs up and then runs over the road. Taking the road surface with it.

Got to think of it like an earth filled dam. If the water goes over the top, everything is lost.

 

[CalG]

Culverts pull water from the ditch, under the driveway via pipes, and put it out to the down-hill side of the driveway. There are multiple periodic culverts. I just need the ditch to handle the volume (which is a separate topic to some extent), and the intensity of the flow. I'm focused on the intensity as the water just rips my driveway out. If it wasn't for the odd shape constraints imposed by the bedrock near the surface I might just put in an ordinary steel half-pipe or other measure.

Are you trying to fix MY drive? ;-)

Sounds EXACTLY the same. Most of the afternoon was spent with blade and rake "tuning it up" .

Heavy rain forecast for the late evening tonight. and more rain tomorrow.

 

[dlctcg]

I'm thinking I would have to substantially widen my ditch for rip-rap, which would mean a lot of tree work since the driveway is forested on both sides. Keeping trees out of the ditch is half my clearing battle.

I can understand that... that's exactly what we had to do to create our drainage culverts... just under a 1/2 mile of it.... Since then I've been cutting the trees back a little further just to open things up a little more....

You can check with a local quarry they probably carry the 3" to 6" Rip-Rap which might work better in your drainage ditches... We went larger because I wanted the biggest, heaviest rock for the drainage trenches.... less likely to move / wash out. It really has held the driveway & dirt in place well...

Well... that is until Tropical Storm Elsa came in & dumped 5+ inches in hrs, & with all the other rain we've had, it destroyed part of the drive... But the Rip-Rap Stayed....

 

[airbiscuit]

Around here. if the water slows down, it backs up and then runs over the road. Taking the road surface with it.

Got to think of it like an earth filled dam. If the water goes over the top, everything is lost.

He has culverts. The water can still flow downhill, just at a slower speed, and may cause less erosion.

 

[i7win7]

If you've got a picture of what a "rip rap" lined ditch looks like that might help.

BEFORE

AFTER

 

[CalG]

He has culverts. The water can still flow downhill, just at a slower speed, and may cause less erosion.

I guess you would need to see it to understand how it goes.

Rain or melting snow
Flow goes down the ditch, crosses over through the culvers
Flow exceeds the ditch capacity due to culvert size ,some sort of slow down pinch point, or blockage. (vegetation or ice depending on the season)
Excess flow goes over the road, washing it down hill.

It's an every year event here at my place. I'm thinking about bringing in a ram hoe to bust up some ledge to allow a wider ditch a couple of feet further off the road.

Big $$$$

a couple loads of gravel every few years is cheap in comparison. And is needed anyway just to maintain.

We live on a hill ;-)

 

[airbiscuit]

X2 on more pics and a better description about what the problem is. My take from the description and picture is that the culverts are functioning okay and water is NOT flowing over the road. I take it that the water rushes down the narrow ditches to fast and waskes out the SIDES of his road.

If he has room, he could dig out a couple of swales halfway down his hills, to deflect some water, and slow it down.

Don't know if it is a 50 foot problem or a 1/4 mile problem. More pics and fuller description would help.