Wet weather spring in driveway

[nrc17gto]

Took this picture today. Less than 24 hours since I dug it out.


Wet weather spring...wet. by nrc17gto, on Flickr

Seems like pretty good flow. I am going to try to fix this in the next few days while I am off.

 

[teg]

Finish digging your pond and move the road!!! Or put a bridge across the pond... :thumbsup: :laughing:

 

[nrc17gto]

Finish digging your pond and move the road!!! Or put a bridge across the pond... :thumbsup: :laughing:

Man I wish. I do want a pond eventually, too bad this area is only 50' wide!

So maybe I missed this part, the perforated pipe, does it need to be rigid or can it be the flexible stuff?

Shop perforated drain pipe at Lowes.com: Search Results

Thanks.

 

[DJ54]

Looks like some shaley limestone in the bucket. Did you go any deeper, to see if it gets pretty solid..?? More then likely that layer is fractured, and water is perking up through it, off the harder layer below.

I am assuming you are just digging out that mucky spot, and going to replace it with more decent material.

Take it for what it's worth... But if it were me, I'd go up the hill, just about where I thought I saw a pile of spoil on the left side of the picture,and cut the drain across there, and catch the water before it gets to that point in the last picture.

Seeing the terrain in another picture, now..., I'd be tempted to make a complete loop around that spot, and make sure I caught it all. But that's just me talking... Guess I'm thinking, unless you go a good ways to the left looking up the hill, the water may still come in from the side, and still have the same problem.

Again, I'm assuming it is pretty soft either side of your road, and the water is perking out, off that harder seam of rock, across the face of the hill.

Bet that's some pretty nice water though, coming off that limestone aquifer..!!

 

[DJ54]

***So maybe I missed this part, the perforated pipe, does it need to be rigid or can it be the flexible stuff?***

They make a smooth bore 4" that comes in 20' joints, and has it's own connector ends molded in. I'd see if I could find some of that. I'm thinking Hancor makes it, and I'm sure others do to. A little more expensive, but worth it. It is fairly flexible. If your trench ends up being 4 to 5' deep, you can connect it together, and we used drywall screws to hold it together, because it has a tendency to unsnap itself if bowed too much, or pop apart when dropped in the hole..

Also the rolled type perforated pipe only has a crush strength of about 4' if I remember correctly.

With the ridgid pipe, you'll have extra money in connectors, glue etc.

I really think you will like the 4" smooth bore, once you've used it.

 

[JamesHW]

Good start on the pond project :thumbsup:

 

[MacLawn]

I don't know much, but it almost looks like you need a bridge!

 

[sam5570]

nrc i wish you all the luck in the world dealing with this problem we have put drains and tryed several drainage methods so far nothing works if we have a real wet spring we cannot get anything in half of our hay field we have about 10 of those springs that show up when we get alot of rain all the digging we have done over the years we could never for sure get to the actual point where the water was comming up.good luck

 

[JamesHW]

Thinking maybe it would have made more sense to dig a big hole on the downward slope side of the driveway, thereby giving the water someplace to go?

 

[2manyrocks]

4" rigid wall pipe works better than the black flex pipe because the rigid pipe can be sloped more accurately and there are no ridges in the pipe to mess with water flow. You can buy a 10' section at Lowes for about $10-11. It's the thin wall pipe.

Since you have a backhoe, it doesn't cost you much to try to drain it with drain pipe or a culvert, but I'm wondering if you won't end up having to redo it?

Instead, I'm wondering if this needs to be approached more like a bridge. In a sense, your road is crossing over a real spring. Whatever you try to fill this with, it is still going to be mushy at the bottom.

 

[nrc17gto]

Looks like some shaley limestone in the bucket. Did you go any deeper, to see if it gets pretty solid..?? More then likely that layer is fractured, and water is perking up through it, off the harder layer below.

I am assuming you are just digging out that mucky spot, and going to replace it with more decent material......

Bet that's some pretty nice water though, coming off that limestone aquifer..!!

Nope, did not want to go any deeper. Feared I was too deep as it was. Yes I am more or less digging it out and I am going to fill the whole area with gravel to a certain depth. That way I figure the water will filter through the rock then hit the perforated pipe downhill of it.

It does look like some nice water, when I went out today after it had been sitting, it looked good and clear. Resisted getting a big drink though...:laughing:

nrc i wish you all the luck in the world dealing with this problem we have put drains and tryed several drainage methods so far nothing works if we have a real wet spring we cannot get anything in half of our hay field we have about 10 of those springs that show up when we get alot of rain all the digging we have done over the years we could never for sure get to the actual point where the water was comming up.good luck

Thanks Sam, I need it. This is the same situation just not as widespread as yours sounds. I wish I could find an exact point but I believe I would have to dig up the whole hillside. I am just about there as it is.

Thinking maybe it would have made more sense to dig a big hole on the downward slope side of the driveway, thereby giving the water someplace to go?

Maybe, but the way it seemed to me (novice here) is by the time it reached a ditch on the downhill side of my driveway, it would have had to seep underneath the driveway. Which I believe is what was making it unstable to start with.

Hopefully I will not have to redo this any time soon, but live and learn! I have learned a lot in this process so far and everyone on this forum has been very helpful! Here is a pic today, I did a little more digging after this to smooth it out but this definitely relieved the water.


Wet spring with trench. by nrc17gto, on Flickr

 

[teg]

Waiting for a car to drive into it .

I think once you setup a french drain, covered with some type of fabric, along with a layer of larger rock mixed with some dirt - compacted to make a road base. Top it off with a few inches of gravel... you shouldn't have anymore problems.

With the amount of water you had, I would think about draining it twice. Use a 45* joint (in blue) with two drain pipes (red) tied to a solid pipe (in yellow). It would be best to try and locate where the water is coming from...

 

[nrc17gto]

Here is what I was planning. My thinking was that I would run the perforated pipe at the lowest point.

 

[DJ54]

That ought to work, just be sure to get deep enough to rid the ponding at the outlet, or it will eventually soak out on down the hill, following the path of least resistance.

 

[greenthumb]

I guess I have som work no wonder the post man won't deliver anymore.

No just a pic of the Oregon trail ruts in Guernsey Wyoming. Was there last summer. that would do a number on your cars shocks.

 

[greenthumb]

Delete this one

 

[rsewill]

Fill it with 3" crushed rock. No fines, all 3". Once it settles (and it won't settle much as three feet of 3" rock makes a nice bridge) you can cover it with 3/4 minus limestone for a nice surface.

3" clear crushed rock is spendy but will keep you high and dry.

 

[nrc17gto]

That ought to work, just be sure to get deep enough to rid the ponding at the outlet, or it will eventually soak out on down the hill, following the path of least resistance.

Thank ya sir. I am torn from reading different post if I should wrap the perf pipe or not. And if so, do you:

1. Put paper on dirt, then gravel, then pipe, then more gravel and fold the paper over top

or

2. Put gravel down, put paper directly against pipe, then put gravel on top.

Either way I know I need a lot more gravel on top but I am just talking about the pipe at the moment.

Nick

 

[DJ54]

We always had good luck with just a good clean grade on bottom. so as to flow, put the pipe in and gravel to what ever level we needed. Then something on top to keep surface dirt from filtering down through. We've used straw, felt paper cut to width, then the last few years I worked, we got surplus filter fabric, that contractors had left over from jobs.

I put a few drains in myself for personal use around my new buildings last fall. I used a top of the line fabric they use under mulch. Supposedly resistant to solar rays for 10-15 years. A 3' wide roll cut in half, was perfect for my 16" trenches.

I'm thinking with that much of a volume of water, any fine stuff will be flushed from the pipe.

I would put a varmint barrier cap on the end. Muskrats love plastic pipe..!!

 

[Buppies]

Lowes has slotted drain tile with a mesh around it to filter out silt for about $48. This drain tile works very well as we have used it with great success in parking lot with underground water problems