Wet weather spring in driveway

[nrc17gto]

Need some help guys and gals. I now have gravel on my driveway from the road to my garage. It is what is called airport spec gravel from the road to my creek (larger stone) and from the creek to the garage is recycled asphalt, which I love by the way.

Here is the issue. In the first winter I owned my property, after I had the large gravel down, a wet weather spring showed up. It was bad enough that if you tried to drive across it your tires would just sink in, gravel and all. I was hoping it was just a temporary large rain issue but it never dried up all winter and is back this winter. Last summer I dug it down about 2 feet with my bobcat. I noticed the water just seeping out of the ground in multiple places. The inexperienced, thinking side of me got a bright idea. I found some railroad ties and laid them across the driveway in the two foot hole I dug the length of the wet area. Needless to say they just sunk in and became uneven as well.

So now I have heard that large rock, like shot rock should go in the hole and be covered with a mesh paper (don't remember the name) and then layered with dirt and gravel. With a ditch cut from one corner of it to drain the water away.

Let me also say that my property in this area is only 50 feet wide and the spring is the entire width. So rerouting the driveway is not an option. I know a lot of people here probably have good experience with this situation and can give me some great advice. Here are a few pictures and I will try to get one of its current state soon. Thanks for reading!

Before digging it up, this is after it started drying up.

SpringInDrive01 by nrc17gto, on Flickr

Dug up while dry.

SpringInDrive02 by nrc17gto, on Flickr

 

[ToadHill]

I had one like that myself. I dug down several feet and put about 6" heavy gravel laid a wrapped perforated 4" pipe in the slice & covered ir with gravel.

Then put large gravel over and then larger rocks over it. I finally put about a foot of the driveway material on top.

Make sure the covered pipe has a good slope and I made mine drain about 30 ft. from the side of the drive. It has cured my problem.

 

[nrc17gto]

So where would I put the pipe? Water comes up in random spots across the whole dug up area as well as on both sides of the driveway. Would simply placing the pipe at the lowest point (closest to the camera) do it?

The complete area that is dug up stays wet.

Thanks.

 

[teg]

You may have to lay a few of them, basically like a french drain. Another option that worked for a friend... is to dig the area out, direct the water to someplace else. It has to drain so that it doesn't stay on the road. Then fill the area with 3" to 4" rock without any "fine" or smaller rock... pack it about 1 to 2 feet deep. Should be a good size dump truck load. Run over and compact that. He left it like that and it's a bit rough but I don't see where you couldn't top it with 3" of crusher run/crush and run.

 

[namesray]

from what i can see from your pictures, it looks like you may be able to drain it from right to left (as looking at your picture). you need r3 stone (cobble stone), lime stone (2a), and a roll of geo textile. dig down and out from the wet area of the drive way (much like you have it in your picture but out into the grass each side to collect water and redirect flow). be sure to go out the low end far enough to allow the water to continue through the lawn. place the geo textile down and cover the entire bottom of the dig. the r3 stone would go directly on top of the geo. this is what the water will flow through and provide a good base. then top it with the 2a lime stone for the surface. the geo textile will allow water to flow down, but not come up through. the larger diameter r3's (look like round cobble stones about 3" radius) will allow water to flow through to the other side and its larger size provide good base to keep the weight of the vehicles from sinking in. the 2a lime stone will also drain well and provides an excellent top surface to drive on. can't tell for sure just from the pictures, but you may need to leave some r3's exposed each side of the drive way to allow for better water flow. at any way you choose to do it, good luck. i have a wet weather spring at the entrance to my woods and makes for a real disaster mess during wet times.
it also might last longer if you place another layer of geo textile on top of the r3's before adding the 2a limestone. this to not let too much of the limestone fines get down into the r3's.

 

[dodge man]

What you have is a hill behind you, and the ground water migrates down the hill and pops out in your driveway. Like someone else said, a perforated drain tile would help pull out the ground water and drain it elsewhere. In the pictures, it looks like the right side is higher, so you could try laying the pipe along that side and catch the water that way.

 

[beppington]

You think you're having trouble figuring it out: I drive I-10 along the FL Panhandle fairly often, & there's a spot in the middle of I-10's west-bound lane somewhere around Panama City (IIRC) that seeps water right up thru the pavement all the time. It can be a bright, sunny day with dry pavement the whole way ... until you come to that one wet spot. Seems even the pro's can't always eliminate them.

 

[Hollow]

Perforated pipe back filled with gravel run across the drive and out in the open to allow drainage and air to dry it out should work. If not you can have chert hauled in and crown the drive... Or both... Or you could haul in a load of 3" limestone, dig it out like that again and back fill it. Then every time it gets mashed down in the soil just add another layer. eventually it will harden up.

My house is built on an old coral reef (very old, I live in north Alabama!!!). The coral is under the top soil between 8" to 2' and where my driveway runs around the side of the hill the rain water leaches down through the soil hits the reef and comes out on my drive. I had to have 3" stone hauled in then topped it and smoothed it off with gravel. I still have a few problems but I only have to grade the drive three or four times a year.

 

[nrc17gto]

What you have is a hill behind you, and the ground water migrates down the hill and pops out in your driveway.

Yes, there is a hill. The reason I know it is not just run off though is because below the spot I have dug out (further down the hill) it is dry for about 10 feet of driveway before it starts going back up hill.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, any more out there?

 

[Bigfoot62]

Yes, there is a hill. The reason I know it is not just run off though is because below the spot I have dug out (further down the hill) it is dry for about 10 feet of driveway before it starts going back up hill.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, any more out there?

The french drain will work. I've done it before.

If you don't want to do the french drain, the only other viable option is to cut ditches on both sides of your drive. That will allow the water to naturally drain away from the road bed. But, the bottom of the ditch needs to be 3-4 feet below the top of the road.