Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Haddock
"...have you found a better material than those mentioned above to limit erosion...?
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We have a steep driveway and it's just dirt. The best thing I did in 52 years was to put a "drive-over" berm at the very top holding back any sudden floodwaters.
When a flood nearly breaches the berm, the "held-back" waters get directed off to either side of the driveway. One side was gently, but properly ditched sixty years ago, and also acts as a holding pond. The other side was not particularly well-ditched, but has adequately dissipated floodwaters into the woods all these years.
My driveway did get "channelized" in a sudden storm at 4:28PM on July 6th, 2000, but it took only a ¼-yard of gravel to fix its full length.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Haddock
"...4) What techniques have others used to limit erosion of steep driveways..."
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Properly attired, you might try standing in the rain!
(As the rain lightens up but the waters are still moving quickly.
)
Watch the main channels well above the area you are concerned with. Even if you do nothing, water will take somewhat different courses between rainstorms—but the deepest waters and major streams will show what needs to get done.
What you
don't want for a driveway surface is what a neighbor's single-family residential rental unit got: some kind of thin asphalt skim.
Dry, it worked fine. Wet, tires started digging up the surface.
In only two years, nothing was left of the original asphalt except what can be seen at the dark, flat area bordered by a white curb in the 2007 photo below (left).
This driveway
is a very steep driveway, and downslope from a
shared steep dirt driveway that has still more issues itself. Those driveway problems are compounded by a raised shared leachfield that divides floodwaters down both driveways.
The cement parking platform blocks (right) were straight upon installation in 2005, but have shifted downslope even more since this photo was taken in 2007. Their roots covered, the two large trees adjacent have both died, dropping branches on cars parked there.
A lot of thought has to go into driveway runoff management, but it needn't require a college degree.
