Steep gravel driveway drainage/washout solutions?

anomad

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I posted over in the what have you done on your tractor today thread that I maintain a lot of steep gravel driveways.

I cut in "speed bumps" or water bars to prevent wash out. These aren't perfectly crowned roads with immaculate drainage and all that. When a storm of biblical proportions comes through it washes over my water bars and the water carries all the gravel down the road. Like way down. It takes baseball sized rocks down there.

I go mine it and carry it back up the road with the bucket and spread it out with the box blade and bucket and re-cut my water bars.

Looking for a multiple event solution vs. an annual or bi-annual solution. I have 3 big water bars and multiple small ones cut in with a hoe.
Should I cut in like 20 big speed bumps? Spending a fortune to re-profile the whole drives and bring in thousands of dollars of stone isn't happening.

For a steepness measure. I can't drive my half ton pickup to the house in 2wd without tearing up the surface. I always use 4wd coming up the steep part.
 
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North Idaho Wolfman

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No cheap or easy options that I can think of!
 
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GeoHorn

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How long is the drive..?? and perhaps you can pave it ..?? (Chip and seal might solve the problem.)
 
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anomad

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How long is the drive..?? and perhaps you can pave it ..?? (Chip and seal might solve the problem.)
I've looked for videos on You Tube or wherever to see small or home brew chip seal/paving solutions. Haven't quite found what I am looking for. Also looked at geo-textile plastic paver or honeycomb things. Might be worth putting in the problem areas.

It used to be fairly common to see a mom and pop motel rent a little walk behind tar heater and resurface their own parking lot. I would be happy to do a few feet at a time till I finished.

The County chip sealed or paved all the gravel roads decades ago. Cheaper than running road graders in the long run.
 

anomad

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I have seen someone use old guard rail as a trough on you tube.
A neighbor down the road has a section of that. And I am planning to help a tractor-less neighbor copy the idea! Will definitely watch how it performs.
There are several drain things that might be less bumpy and more effective than my water bars. But I honestly don't mind the speed bumps in a couple places to encourage folks to drive slow.
 

mikester

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How long is the drive..?? and perhaps you can pave it ..?? (Chip and seal might solve the problem.)
Forget chip and seal, go asphalt or concrete or paver system.

My neighbour was talked into chip and seal for his steep driveway. Got washed out the first heavy rain and ghosted by the "contractor" who scammed him.

Look into erosion control systems like these

Warning - it isn't cheap to do it right
 
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GeoHorn

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Fair enough… if not properly treated on the shoulders it can be washed-out.

Hot-mix-asphalt (or concrete if you win the lottery) would excel…but don’t fall for those “Travelers” who sell you on using them “while we’re in the area…for a low-cost/quck” job. They are a virtual guaranteed scam.
 
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jyoutz

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The only long term solution is to reshape the road and use rolling dips instead of water bars. This would require a dozer or excavator and it involves reshaping the road profile and contours. That’s how we reconstruct forest roads to deal with that situation.
 
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jimh406

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Putting more of a crown/slope on the road and better ditches will prevent the water from crossing the road and force off the edge. Fwiw, that's how my road was updated by my excavating company. Also, I'd consider renting/paying someone to roll the driveways to make sure it is packed enough.

Other than that, the more typical approach is having more curves which would be hard in comparison and require a new road base.
 
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D2Cat

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Could you cut a "ditch' deep enough to lace with large rock and use a cattle guard on the drive? Maybe do it in two or three places. You can build the cattle guard any way you need instead of buying one factory made and it won't be too expensive since you won't need the end guards since you're not keeping cattle in.
 
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anomad

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Could you cut a "ditch' deep enough to lace with large rock and use a cattle guard on the drive? Maybe do it in two or three places. You can build the cattle guard any way you need instead of buying one factory made and it won't be too expensive since you won't need the end guards since you're not keeping cattle in.
I like that idea.
 

anomad

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YM2310D
Jun 10, 2021
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Western North Carolina
The only long term solution is to reshape the road and use rolling dips instead of water bars. This would require a dozer or excavator and it involves reshaping the road profile and contours. That’s how we reconstruct forest roads to deal with that situation.
Reshape my speed bumps into jumps! LOL