Ditch Erosion repair advise 9 June 2022 at 3:18PM in Greenfingered MoneySaving 5 replies 131 views

aalleexx

Hello ,
I have a rainwater ditch at the end of my garden which has a steady stream of water running down it constantly .  It is slowly eroding away the bed of the ditch which is  undermine my erosion defence wall . what I would like to do is put some sand on the ditch bed just to raise it up by about 18 inches . I want to put the correct sand down , as in the correct sand which you are allowed to use for this . could someone point be to the location where I can find out exactly what sand I can use for this .Thank you

Woolsery

How deep is the water? If you were at liberty to raise the bed of the ditch by 45cm (18") and it was shallower than that, you'd have a blocked ditch. However, if this ditch goes beyond your property, then you don't have the right to impede it anyway because others have the shared use of it.

Is there no time when the water is shallow? The summer is usually the time when structures on watercourses are repaired. A properly built retaining wall would have foundations to withstand erosion, but older ones may not. I have one of those and I've set a row of rocks in front of it to take the stresses when the stream's in flood, but without blocking the channel.

One thing's for sure; sand will not do what you want it to here. It will be swept away when there is sufficient current.

aalleexx

Hi Thanks for the advise !!

twopenny

Is the water continually running like a steam or still?

Standing water shouldn't errode a lot

Just wondering where it's coming from to erode enough that you're worried.

Woolserys advice sound as always particularly if he has the experience of the same thing.

FreeBear

Woolsery said: One thing's for sure; sand will not do what you want it to here. It will be swept away when there is sufficient current.

Puddled clay is the traditional material to line ponds and culverts where the water is still to slow moving. Might not be easy to do unless you can divert the flow of water or do the work in the summer months if it dries up.

John_Pierpoint

We need far more information about this stream and your geology - you can google al this sort of information these days. What is your flood rating?

What is keeping the stream running in dry summer weather? A chalk/limestone sping or are you up a mountain in Wales?

The other option could be "sewage" outfall but this is a whole different discussion.