# Rainwater runs down road into driveway washing out gravel



## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

I live on a hill in a rural area. The town road is asphalt and when it rains the water runs down the road and into my gravel driveway washing away much of the gravel and leaving deep ruts.

I was going to excavate a 2' foot trench, install a catch basin, lay some gravel, then put in covered/filtered pipe, followed by more gravel.

Before the basin along the roadway maybe some riprap to slow the water. What do you guys think? :thumbup: or :thumbdown:


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## Msradell (Sep 1, 2011)

Your concept certainly looks good. Without knowing a little more about the grades involved etc. it's hard to give you a more accurate opinion. Could you provide some pictures of the area in question? How large of an area is uphill from you that the water collects on before running downhill?


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

I will post pics tomorrow. I want to have a good plan before I start digging. Thanks


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## Mort (Nov 26, 2008)

Is there a ditch there? If so, just dig for a culvert and be done with it. That catch basin looks like it'll get plugged with crap all the time. 

You only need to fill over the culvert 1/2 as much as it is in diameter, so if it's a 12" culvert it needs 6" of gravel over it. We drive loaded dump trucks over them, so they'll handle whatever you can throw at them.


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## jimn (Nov 13, 2010)

If the county's drain water was eroding my drive it becomes their problem to fix not mine.


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

> If the county's drain water was eroding my drive it becomes their problem to fix not mine.


I hate waiting for a solution from the town even if it means me fixing it myself. I suppose that could/should be a solution but I don't know. Even dropping off the rip rap would be better than nothing. I have a number of other areas I want to clean up in the driveway so I'm already going to have gravel and stone available. The drain basin and pipe and filter material is around $100.00.

I could spend day(s) going to town meetings complaining which is time I'd rather spend fixing the driveway. I don't know. I'm going down to the town hall right now and see if they can drop off some rock.



Anyway, here's the mess. The easier option may be to just raise the end of my driveway with fill but I think it would eventually wash away also.


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## landfillwizard (Feb 21, 2014)

Instead of doing that work, dig a trench up-grade of the telephone/electric pole in the shoulder from the edge of the road to the outside edge of the shoulder. The problem is the water running down the pavement can not get off the road because of the grass and not enough pitch away from the pavement. If you dig a "weep" from the edge of the pavement away from the road surface, it will allow the water to drain before it gets to your driveway. 

The municipality that maintains the road is responsible for the water that flows along the pavement.


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

delete post


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

landfillwizard said:


> Instead of doing that work, dig a trench up-grade of the telephone/electric pole in the shoulder from the edge of the road to the outside edge of the shoulder. The problem is the water running down the pavement can not get off the road because of the grass and not enough pitch away from the pavement. If you dig a "weep" from the edge of the pavement away from the road surface, it will allow the water to drain before it gets to your driveway.
> 
> The municipality that maintains the road is responsible for the water that flows along the pavement.


I'll have to review what you're saying. DPW supervisor is coming today to look at it.


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## Tscarborough (Mar 31, 2006)

Better a swale before your driveway, then a roll-over curb at your driveway to direct the water past your driveway on the road.


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

landfillwizard said:


> Instead of doing that work, dig a trench up-grade of the telephone/electric pole in the shoulder from the edge of the road to the outside edge of the shoulder. The problem is the water running down the pavement can not get off the road because of the grass and not enough pitch away from the pavement. If you dig a "weep" from the edge of the pavement away from the road surface, it will allow the water to drain before it gets to your driveway.
> 
> The municipality that maintains the road is responsible for the water that flows along the pavement.



DPW just left. They're putting in a work order. They're going to put in a berm (likely next week). 

They told me recent code would have required some type of drain similar to what I was going to do when building.

They talked of a few possible solutions but settled on a berm. I'll let them do their thing and then see. Hopefully it will work out. I'll post pics when they finish it. Thanks everyone


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

landfillwizard said:


> Instead of doing that work, dig a trench up-grade of the telephone/electric pole in the shoulder from the edge of the road to the outside edge of the shoulder. The problem is the water running down the pavement can not get off the road because of the grass and not enough pitch away from the pavement. If you dig a "weep" from the edge of the pavement away from the road surface, it will allow the water to drain before it gets to your driveway.
> 
> The municipality that maintains the road is responsible for the water that flows along the pavement.


I think I understand most of what you just said.If the town's work isn't good enough I'll be able to move some dirt around (just bought a backhoe). I'll post pics again when they're done (hopefully next week). Thanks


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## ZTMAN (Feb 19, 2015)

A berm should work. That's what I did in my past home. Edge of the berm near the drive way needs to be angled to the road slightly so flows get directed away from your driveway.


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

pave the end of your driveway. then raise the grade that is uphill from that.


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

Not sure if the town painted this or DigSafe. Can anyone tell me what this means? I'm assuming the town painted this because I had other areas for DigSafe to look at and there's no proof they showed up. 

Thanks


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

Fix'n it said:


> pave the end of your driveway. then raise the grade that is uphill from that.


Yeah, that's probably what I'll need to do.

Maybe concrete? I'm just wondering because I think I could do the concrete myself. Not sure if that's a good solution or not.


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## ZTMAN (Feb 19, 2015)

Red is electric, orange is communication lines


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## jogr (Jul 24, 2007)

Just be careful about anything you do in the road right-of-way. Clear it with the county first.


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

ZTMAN said:


> Red is electric, orange is communication lines


After looking again, the orange lettering is pointing at the area where the underlying asphalt ends along the driveway.

Anyway, do you think that was Digsafe or the town that marked that? If it is electric and/or communication lines how would I know where I could dig? 

I don't think I'm going to have to dig in that area but this is good information for future digging if needed. Thanks


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

skobydog said:


> Yeah, that's probably what I'll need to do.
> 
> Maybe concrete? I'm just wondering because I think I could do the concrete myself. Not sure if that's a good solution or not.


i think its your only good and lasting solution. i would do asphalt, buts thats just me. but if you are sure you can do concrete .....


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

This is what the town did. Seems like a band-aid fix to me but I'll see how it works. The town guy was cool, he said if the berm was too low he'd come back and make it higher. Even if it is high enough I'm not sure how long it will last.

Seems to me the gravel will wash away pretty quickly also. I was thinking about back dragging some of the fill behind the gravel berm and bring it right up to it. I'm also thinking the snow plows are going to kill it.


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## GrayHair (Apr 9, 2015)

skobydog said:


> ... Seems to me the gravel will wash away pretty quickly also. I was thinking about back dragging some of the fill behind the gravel berm and bring it right up to it. I'm also thinking the snow plows are going to kill it.


I agree on all points. If you want to go to the expense, and the town is agreeable, a concrete curb with a sloped driveway cut-thru would be more durable. Start it 20' or so up the hill and move the run off problem further down the hill past the drive. 

As you've probably noticed, I'm not shy about spending other people's money. :laughing:


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## landfillwizard (Feb 21, 2014)

I agree with the snow plow killing it! I see you have a backhoe. I would go up the road by the utility pole and dig a small channel from the edge of the road toward the side of the shoulder. Give it just a small amount of fall away from the road and it should channel the water away from the driveway. I use to use the front wheels of the big maintenance truck I drove to cut diversion ditches to get water off the roads in the spring.


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## Msradell (Sep 1, 2011)

Please be sure to post a picture of what it looks like after the first hard rain storm you have! I'm betting that the earth berm before your driveway will be totally gone. I think your town just wasted some time and materials not accomplishing anything with what they did.


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

I'll post after the first rain.

I'm going to back fill behind their gravel berm now. I think this is going to need some serious work but will see after the rain. 

It may be another week before we get any fair amount of rain around here. Thanks everyone


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## ZTMAN (Feb 19, 2015)

That fine material they used for a berm will wash away unless vegetation is established. Don't know where you live, but I would get some sod to at least cover the front of the berm to prevent wash outs. A lot of the big box stores sell the week old sod for pennies on the dollar. At least that would prevent the erosion .
You could even take that little machine you have and dig some of the native vegetation to put there. Go from the road to the top of the berm


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

landfillwizard said:


> Instead of doing that work, dig a trench up-grade of the telephone/electric pole in the shoulder from the edge of the road to the outside edge of the shoulder. The problem is the water running down the pavement can not get off the road because of the grass and not enough pitch away from the pavement. If you dig a "weep" from the edge of the pavement away from the road surface, it will allow the water to drain before it gets to your driveway.
> 
> The municipality that maintains the road is responsible for the water that flows along the pavement.


Are you saying to dig a channel here? If that's what you're saying would that water create a wet area in my yard below that or do you think the ground will absorb it? Maybe I would need to drop in a dry well? 

I ask because I want to build a barn next year and that area below may be the best place due to all the hills around me. My neighbor wasn't to thrilled about my idea of a drain under my driveway because she thinks the water will be diverted into her yard even though the water has been going over my driveway in that direction for many years already.


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## GrayHair (Apr 9, 2015)

Ah! The drive shown in the first picture of Post #6 isn't yours. An excellent reason to have let the town do what they've done.

As far as putting a drain or diversion on your property, as long as the terms of the easement aren't violated, I see no issue. However (there is always at least one), where the run-off goes could be an issue. I'm no attorney but I'd say anything done on town right-of-way, with the town's permission and to town specs would be the responsibility of the town; even if done by an individual. 

If you do anything other than help keep the new town-built berm in place, consulting an attorney might be wise.


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## skobydog (Apr 21, 2013)

I'm thinking I'm going to be repairing this after every hard rain. I feel like putting in a 3 or 4 foot berm of rip rap and fill, at least that would last a few hard rains. 

We'll see but I have serious doubts what is there now will last.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

Be careful of what you do, it's county road and easement, you could become liable for damages if some of that water should wind up in your neighbors yard, let the county take care of it.


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

skobydog said:


> I'm thinking I'm going to be repairing this after every hard rain. I feel like putting in a 3 or 4 foot berm of rip rap and fill, at least that would last a few hard rains.
> 
> We'll see but I have serious doubts what is there now will last.


If you can grow grass on the berm, it might keep the dirt from washing away.


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## concrete_joe (Oct 6, 2014)

the asphalt bump will quickly become useless and will fall apart. a concrete bump would have been better. both a sucky solution. i would french drain it and have it dump to the side












gma2rjc said:


> If you can grow grass on the berm, it might keep the dirt from washing away.


or some Railroad granite rock.


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