Sewerage

How to strengthen the ditch in the country

To remove excess water from a summer cottage or personal plot, it is necessary to create a drainage system. With its help, you can protect the territory from waterlogging and buildings from destruction. One of the components of such a system are ditches. They can have different sizes (depth, width and length), but in any case, their walls must be strengthened. Otherwise, the water will turn the ditches into real ravines, which will reduce the usable area of the site. And how to strengthen the ditch in the country? This is exactly what will be discussed in the article.

Ways to strengthen

Drainage systems have been around for a long time and people have learned to reinforce their walls. There are several ways to do this. They can be conditionally divided into two types:

using improvised materials and plants;
with the use of structures and devices made in the factory.

The walls of the ditch, using improvised means, are strengthened with slate, car tires, stones, and also by planting plants. This method is acceptable for small ditches or with a small slope angle.

Various biomats, gabions, geogrids and geogrids are used at a slope angle of more than 8‒15 degrees. Also, such devices are used in the arrangement of large-width ditches.

Each reinforcement method has its pros and cons. This will be discussed further.

improvised means

One of the easiest and most easily accessible ways to strengthen the walls of a drainage ditch is to use slate. In this case, you can use the material that was in use. The main thing is that there are no large holes and cracks in it.

The technology using slate is quite simple. Sheets (whole or cut, depending on the size of the ditch) are laid on the slopes of the ditch tightly to each other. This can be done both strictly vertically and at a slight slope. Then, on both sides of the sheets, in a checkerboard pattern, pieces of reinforcement or thin pipes are driven in.

This method has both its advantages and disadvantages. The first ones include the following:

low financial costs, and if used materials are used, then you can do without investments at all;
ease of installation. All work can be done by one person.

The disadvantages of this design in its fragility. The appearance of the site itself may also suffer.

Strengthening slopes with the help of old car tires looks more aesthetically pleasing. In addition, this method allows you to make a design that will last much longer than the slate version (up to several decades).

Here you can resort to two methods, depending on the available space. One involves stacking the tires along the edges of the ditch. Soil is poured inside, but sand or gravel is better. For greater reliability, metal pipes can be driven in.

If the area allows, then it is better to lay the tires with an offset. Each top row fits up to half the bottom. The result is a kind of ladder. Soil is poured inside and plants can be planted. Thus, a beautiful slope is obtained.

If the ditch is small and the slope angle is less than 8 degrees, then its walls can be strengthened with plants. Small bushes or perennial grasses are planted along the edges. Their roots will reliably strengthen the walls and will not allow water to wash them away and turn the ditch into a large ravine.

Special devices

For a more reliable and durable strengthening of the walls of the drainage ditch, special structures and devices can be used. These include:

geo- and biomats;
geogrids;
geogrids;
gabions.

Geomats and biomats are made in the form of a polymer sponge. With the help of high temperature, several grids of polymers are soldered. Such a structure is impervious to water, but at the same time allows the germination of plants.

For laying such structures, it is necessary to perform the following work:

The slope is being prepared. All debris is removed from its surface and leveling is performed. Then it is desirable to compact the surface. This is especially important if the site has sandy soil.
The material is supplied in rolls, so the laying starts from the top. The geomat (or biomat) is laid on the top of the slope, the edge is fixed;
Then the roll is rolled to the base of the ditch and the excess is cut off.
The next row is laid in the same way and overlaps with the one already laid. The tolerance can be up to 15 cm.
Now the entire surface is covered with a small layer of soil and seeds of perennial grasses are added (if there is a need or desire).

Another type of material for strengthening the slopes of ditches is a geogrid. It is a mesh made of polymer material with a polyester base. The geogrid is cut into the required pieces and laid on a pre-prepared slope (the surface must be cleaned, level and compacted with a hand roller). The grids are laid close to each other and fastened with anchor brackets.

From above, the grid can be covered with a layer of soil and plants can be planted. For these purposes, herbs such as mint, periwinkle and bryozoan are well suited. These herbs with their roots will securely hold the covering in place.

Geogrids and gabions

More powerful structures for strengthening not only slopes, but also the bottom of the ditch are geogrids. They are made from polypropylene and polyethylene. Such products are not afraid of corrosion, they are quite durable and can serve for many decades.

Before installing them, it is necessary that the drainage ditch is dry. You also need to prepare anchor fasteners, a hammer, fine gravel.

After draining the ditch, all debris (large branches, stones, etc.) and large vegetation are removed from the surface. In this case, small grass can be left in place. Then the geogrid is spread. This must be done over the entire area of the channel, it is advisable to immediately cut off the excess pieces.

For a long service life of the geogrid, it must be properly and securely fixed. This is done using anchor brackets or hooks. They can be purchased with a grate or made with your own hands from reinforcing bars with a diameter of 15 mm and a length of 50 to 110 cm. The fasteners are placed in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of at least 30 cm from each other.

The next step is backfilling the geogrid. Sand can be placed at the bottom of the ditch (if it is rarely filled with water) or crushed stone (if drains constantly flow in the ditch). On slopes it is better to use soil sown with grass. So the grille will more securely stay in place.

A more expensive, but at the same time more reliable, way to strengthen the slopes of the drainage ditch is to install gabions. In addition, such designs will look more aesthetically pleasing and respectable.

Gabion is a factory product made in the form of a parallelepiped (box). The material used is double-twisted metal wire. Large stones or pebbles are placed in such "boxes".

In the production of gabions, not a simple wire is used. It has a polymer coating. This protection extends the life of the product up to 70 years. At the same time, the product is not afraid of aggressive environmental influences and withstands large overloads.

Before installing the gabion, it is necessary to prepare the slope. Since the product is of considerable size, excess soil is removed. The gabion is placed in its place and filled with large stones or rubble. For greater reliability, a chain-link mesh can be fixed on top, it is advisable to choose it also with a polymer coating. Stones or pebbles can be placed on top of the mesh to enhance the decorative look.

If you have welding skills and the necessary equipment, then you can try to make a gabion with your own hands. For this, pieces of reinforcement are suitable. They are welded together, making a lattice. For a long service life, all parts can be coated with an anti-corrosion compound.

When strengthening the slopes of drainage ditches, do not forget about the base. Here you can use sand or gravel, depending on the frequency of filling with water. If the ditch is small and located in a conspicuous place, then the bottom lined with natural stones will look beautiful. A particularly beautiful effect will be obtained in combination with gabions.

Video

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