Erosion control ideas?

[formariz 11,987]

This one catches all the water from the steep driveway. It has also the front gutters piped into it. It then goes into another tank and it then goes underground into stream. Soon it’s going to have a large sump pump built into it to speed up draining from drive way rather than just relying on gravity. It is sufficient now but it does fill up on a heavy downpour. If it does overflow , driveway around it is canted to the right side putting all excess water to the back . 

 Of course when stream across street blows up then nothing works. It has only happened 3 times in about 40 years but it was no fun. We are fully aware here of the power of water. I am constantly making improvements as far as drainage goes all around property. 
 

driveway and front gutters drain

driveway is steep

 

in case of drain filling excess water drains to right side of house

 

water then flows to back where it is channeled by next system. 

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

1 hour ago, formariz said:

Tank is not that large. It’s more of a junction box for all the pipes going into it. It’s accessible for cleaning or unclogging if necessary. Top of it is under the 5+ inches of stone. Exit from tank is also much larger than the inlets into it. I have a similar system in the main driveway in front of house. 

Yes sounds like a junction box… looks like you came up with a good plan to take care of the water problem, and also built it almost bulletproof, as Greasy Pete would say… I say almost bulletproof because mother nature’s gonna have her way.

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

1 hour ago, formariz said:

This one catches all the water from the steep driveway. It has also the front gutters piped into it. It then goes into another tank and it then goes underground into stream. Soon it’s going to have a large sump pump built into it to speed up draining from drive way rather than just relying on gravity. It is sufficient now but it does fill up on a heavy downpour. If it does overflow , driveway around it is canted to the right side putting all excess water to the back . 

 Of course when stream across street blows up then nothing works. It has only happened 3 times in about 40 years but it was no fun. We are fully aware here of the power of water. I am constantly making improvements as far as drainage goes all around property. 
 

driveway and front gutters drain

driveway is steep

 

in case of drain filling excess water drains to right side of house

 

water then flows to back where it is channeled by next system. 

Man that is some nice hardscape !

All I have is plain old concrete, but I’m thankful for it !

Edited June 3, 2023 by Horse Newbie

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

So @ebinmaine,

now that you’ve seen all these solutions, do you have any ideas bouncing around in the attic ?

I think first thing is pipe under the driveway at the road… send it on down the street/ ditch…

Edited June 3, 2023 by Horse Newbie

[formariz 11,987]

37 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

almost bulletproof because mother nature’s gonna have her way.

Exactly. Every change we make to our landscape affects water runoff and drainage. Unfortunately most don’t realize that and in the case of contractors hired to do work, either they also don’t know or are willing to tell clients of the consequences of their decisions. Many times in the interest of making things pretty one winds up with a soggy muddy mess elsewhere. Water is a formidable force that in the worst case is highly destructive and in the best of cases destructs things in slow motion, so when you realize it it’s too late. 

[Darb1964 1,042]

I think some of the problem on the driveway you need more of a crown. The side of the barn that didn't wash out is because nothing was damming on that side it just ran into the woods. The side that washed out bad I think the big rocks held back a lot of water until it started to leek between in sports and then undermined. That side needs to be lower or built up in the front of the barn and lower as you go toward the back of the barn and into the woods. 

 

[ebinmaine 67,502]

18 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

So @ebinmaine,

now that you’ve seen all these solutions, do you have any ideas bouncing around in the attic ?

I think first thing is pipe under the driveway at the road… send it on down the street/ ditch…

 

We're thinking this'll be a good combination of several different ideas here. 

 

The Excavator that did the site work on several projects here is gonna stop by sometime fairly soon.  

Part of the reason I did the video is to show him and the town what's going on and still be able to get going moving aggregate back in place.  

 

 

@formariz VERY nice work there Caz. 

 

@Horse Newbie some great thoughts on yours too. 

 

I do like the @SylvanLakeWH silt fence idea. I'll run that by our Excavator when we see him. 

 

The road issues will be addressed by the Town Highway Dept. They've been helpful in the past. 

 

I believe it's time for them to dig out the roadside ditches.  

Maine often utilizes large roadside ditches for snow collection and melting. Ours has filled in over the years.  

 

 

 

We don't generally do culverts here because of cost. Putting one under my driveway has been avoided because it would be even more expensive than normal due to VERY long span. It would have to go more than 40 feet or have the driveway entrance reorganized which would be a different expense. 

 

15 hours ago, Darb1964 said:

I think some of the problem on the driveway you need more of a crown

This is definitely a valid point.  

We've talked about having a stone runoff on the side of the driveway for years. 

 

 

As far as the barn drain area goes, we may have to dig out by the boulder rock wall and start over. 

Silt fence, 6" rock (we call Rip Raff) then maybe some 2" stone layered under ¾"  or 1" as a top surface.  

 

Both Trina and I are very resistant to gutters.

 

Even a commercial grade 6" type would barely work with the amount of flow we experience during the more aggressive rains. 

Over the long term they'd either be a maintenance issue or possibly even a damage issue. 

 

 

[Darb1964 1,042]

4 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

We're thinking this'll be a good combination of several different ideas here. 

 

The Excavator that did the site work on several projects here is gonna stop by sometime fairly soon.  

Part of the reason I did the video is to show him and the town what's going on and still be able to get going moving aggregate back in place.  

 

 

@formariz VERY nice work there Caz. 

 

@Horse Newbie some great thoughts on yours too. 

 

I do like the @SylvanLakeWH silt fence idea. I'll run that by our Excavator when we see him. 

 

The road issues will be addressed by the Town Highway Dept. They've been helpful in the past. 

 

I believe it's time for them to dig out the roadside ditches.  

Maine often utilizes large roadside ditches for snow collection and melting. Ours has filled in over the years.  

 

 

 

We don't generally do culverts here because of cost. Putting one under my driveway has been avoided because it would be even more expensive than normal due to VERY long span. It would have to go more than 40 feet or have the driveway entrance reorganized which would be a different expense. 

 

This is definitely a valid point.  

We've talked about having a stone runoff on the side of the driveway for years. 

 

 

As far as the barn drain area goes, we may have to dig out by the boulder rock wall and start over. 

Silt fence, 6" rock (we call Rip Raff) then maybe some 2" stone layered under ¾"  or 1" as a top surface.  

 

Both Trina and I are very resistant to gutters.

 

Even a commercial grade 6" type would barely work with the amount of flow we experience during the more aggressive rains. 

Over the long term they'd either be a maintenance issue or possibly even a damage issue. 

 

 

I don't like gutters in our region either, I had one over our slider to the deck and I would take it down in the fall. One year I didn't and the snow and ice took care of it.

[ebinmaine 67,502]

2 minutes ago, Darb1964 said:

I don't like gutters in our region either, I had one over our slider to the deck and I would take it down in the fall. One year I didn't and the snow and ice took care of it.

 

Same issue here. 

 

I've tried gutters on the front of the house in the past. The front door is under the drip line of rain and snow. 

Not. Successful. 

 

I was careful on my planning of the barn building to keep ALL doors on the gable ends so we wouldn't have to move the mounds of snow from the sliding sides. 

 

[mrc 812]

hi eb,

 

hopefully your town can help with the driveway erosion by some ditch digging on the uphill side of the road.

 

here is my idea for determining the erosion source along your barn/shop.  next time it rains have a big bottle of food coloring and an umbrella handy.  go out and pour the food coloring on the side of your barn/shop.  this should pinpoint where the heavy water comes from. 

 

good luck

mike 

[formariz 11,987]

1 hour ago, mrc said:

here is my idea for determining the erosion source along your barn/shop.  next time it rains have a big bottle of food coloring and an umbrella handy.  go out and pour the food coloring on the side of your barn/shop.  this should pinpoint where the heavy water comes from. 

Careful and constant observation is key to understanding the actual source of problem. Every time there is a serious rainfall I am outside and walk through property specially in problem areas. Even in non problem areas I am always watching and learning so improvements can be made. It’s always better to see upcoming problems before they actually occur.  I even changed roof on house from a hip to a gable to eliminate water in front and back where most human traffic occurs. Everyone said it was a waste of money but it was probably the best decision made here. You may want to reconsider also the ground surface materials you are using specially right next to buildings. As an interesting point, there is a lot to learn on how to keep water away from the foundation or bottom of buildings by examining colonial architecture. One only needed to pay attention to many buildings in Colonial Williamsburg . Simple things that actually worked have been ignored and outright forgotten. We keep reinventing the wheel instead of looking at it and  just learn to understand it. 

[ebinmaine 67,502]

4 hours ago, formariz said:

Every time there is a serious rainfall I am outside and walk through property specially in problem areas. Even in non problem areas I am always watching and learning so improvements can be made. It’s always better to see upcoming problems before they actually occur

 

Absolutely agreed. We watch the water flows here as well... but from inside.  

 

4 hours ago, formariz said:

You may want to reconsider also the ground surface materials you are using specially right next to buildings

 

True. We've been considering a change to a heavier rock on the right side.  

 

4 hours ago, formariz said:

changed roof on (building)

 to eliminate water in front and back where most human traffic occurs.

 

Interesting how many people ignore the nature of nature and pay for it later.  

I see it quite often in the construction business.  

 

Trina and I made the change on the house to a metal roof and purposely used metal on the barn as well.  

Snow removal here is no longer an issue and the metal will likely outlast either one of us.  

 

The shape, size, and angle position of the barn was also given careful consideration.  

 

The direction and quantity of the drainage is very good. Neither of our buildings have a flooding concern.  

 

Once we get the material at the barn sides to stay in place we'll be in good shape.  

 

[ebinmaine 67,502]

Been doing some serious digging today. This ditch is just over 13' long and about knee deep one end, mid thigh the other. 
We layed in the landscaping cloth and I've started backfilling.  

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,502]

Got good progress done today. About 10 or 11 feet filled in. 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,502]

We've been working slowly and surely on the project.  

 

After reading this thread (thank you all for the ideas) and talking to several other folks.. barn builder, excavator, town highway, folks at my work.. we decided to add a layer of 1.5" stone to a large area on the right side of the barn. 

Included in that will be a ditch or dry creek bed along the right side the building.  That'll be 25"-30" wide and a foot or so deep at the middle. 

The ditch will be lined in the base with a tarp, filled in with stone and the roof drip line reinforced with flat-ish rocks layed out.  

The line of stones by these poles will be removed and reinstalled atop the creek bed. 

 

 

Today I used the Wally Digger Backhoe to start moving some stone around. 

I layed out the rocks behind the landscape cloth pictured here to raise the edge of wall. 

 

 

Then covered that with about 10 FEL scoops of stone. 

 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,502]

We worked on the erosion control project for a bit this afternoon. Got some more sand and  stone moved. 

We're some past the halfway point now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,502]

While I was at work today Trina moved another 10 loads of sand with her Millie and small trailer. Her Momma helped shovel 3 of them. 

 

 

 

When I got home I ran the Wally Digger Backhoe FEL and filled in a fair amount of stone on top.  

Trina leveled it. 

 

You can see the darker stone we moved today.  

 

 

Full view.  

 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,502]

A few days ago we got more of the stone layed out. 

We're now at the point of digging out the trench next.  

Some pretty fair rains have fallen and the waters seem to be flowing as they should. NOT moving cubic feet of gravel with it.  

 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,502]

On 9/10/2023 at 8:13 PM, ebinmaine said:

 

 

Well folks we finally finished up on the Erosion control project today. 

The quoted pic above is a reminder of the 14+ yd pile we had delivered back in July.   

 

We got the rest of the stone moved today. 

The driveway is back. 

 

 

A dozen loader buckets by the left barn side.

 

 

The rest down the path which will be our new primary forest entrance.  Trina used her 867 and Mid Mount Grader Blade to level out the driveway and I used the Front End Loader.  
A LOT of work done today.  

 

 

[Moparfanforever 846]

Looks really good 👍!! Keeping my fingers crossed for you that it works well. 

 

[Moparfanforever 846]

[ebinmaine 67,502]

5 minutes ago, Moparfanforever said:

Looks really good 👍!! Keeping my fingers crossed for you that it works well. 

 

Thanks!

 

It's been good. Should continue to be fine. 

We've been monitoring the right side which was the main issue and haven't seen any damage since the 1½" stone was laid out.  

The issues in the left side were minor and addressed by where we put rocks out yesterday.