Agricultural fence sinking into the ditch, self build retaining wall.

20up

Hi, we have an agricultural fence at one end of our land sinking into a ditch. There is a drain pipe or channel that goes through there and as you can imagine when we get rain each year it gets worse. So we are looking at trying to contain the dirt to stop the slide. We have already been quoted ££££, but wanted to see if we can tackle ourselves.

So my ideas are

1.Install these either side of each post
3ft Galvanised Steel Multi-Purpose Fencing U Channel - Includes Screws | eBay

2.Slot 4x2 planks or suitable panels flush 

3.Fill the void with dirt

4. Install these on the posts and then concrete the holes
RSL Easy Fence Post Support Repair Spike -Knock In, Concrete In And Screw Down | eBay

5.Is this a crazy idea !?

6.Thanks in advance !!!

Eldi_Dos

Burlap/ hessian sandbags filled with soil,sand or a sand and cement dry mix placed along the area you want to contain your soil are a easy Diy chore and once weathered in are unobtrusive.

20up

Thanks Eldi_Dos , would we be able to do this without removing the fence. The challenge is the other side (ditch side) of that fence is not our land.

Nobbie1967

What about dropping one or two concrete gravel boards this side of the wooden posts? You will need to dig out a bit behind each post to drop them in, but should be maintenance free after that. If there’s still a little gap at the bottom, drop an unopened bag of Postcrete in the bottom, then open the top and add water so that it sets in place and then cover with soil.

https://www.diy.com/departments/forest-garden-concrete-gravel-board-l-1-83m-w-150mm-t-50mm/5013053158036_BQ.prd

Eldi_Dos

@20up,
 Do not be tempted to make any "improvements" on land it is not your own, especially as drainage is in the area,

Looking again at your second photo are you sure it is water run off that is causing the gap below fence, could it be part of a run that the local wildlife are using.

daivid

Is the erosion being caused by surface water pouring off your property or by water heading towards your property and the culvert overflowing?

20up

Thanks for your comments. Hard to tell, which comes first, but water has in the past filled the ditch up and come over the top in to our area. This has not occurred since I unblocked the drain, but I have seen water running into the ditch at that end as it is now more sloped

daivid

Hay bales seem to be the thing for preventing culverts blocking - place one (or more as needed) across the ditch - they let the water through but block the debris that would cause a blockage. Landowners consent would be needed, though if it keeps their drainage open and costs them nothing they may be more than happy.

For runoff some planting that binds the soil would help, or as suggested earlier reenforce with sandbags, unless there is something of huge significance cm out of shot on your pictures it doesn’t look like it is worth spending too much time or money on.

ThisIsWeird

20up said:

Thanks for your comments. Hard to tell, which comes first, but water has in the past filled the ditch up and come over the top in to our area. This has not occurred since I unblocked the drain, but I have seen water running into the ditch at that end as it is now more sloped

Could you provide more details, please, as to what is going on in that area? It will likely make a difference depending on whether it's the neighbouring ditch that's 'bursting it's banks', or whether there is accumulated water flowing from your land under that fence - along with what will happen if you just stop that from happening?
And, does that fence represent - as accurately as possible - the 'true' boundary line? Is the ditch shown in your deeds map? Any reference to it in the wording? Is the ditch straight? Does the fence follow its  line? 
For that last point, there's a possibility that the fence was positioned there as it's the first bit of high, or non-sloping ground, but your land may go slightly beyond that, to the ditch's edge or even it's centre. Try some Googling for such scenarios. Of course, the fence could represent the boundary.
And more info, please, on the drains that were unblocked.
And, who owns the land on the other side?

markin

Looks like it's your fence to me and I see an old steel post 1 m back, if so you could just dump bags of gravel in it, it's strange that it looks like the fence is acting like a retaining wall

20up

Thanks all, the fence is mine (ours). The ditch the other side is not, whos I am not sure (nor do the neighbors).
We are told that the ditch runs under the entire length of our land. I see the entry (picture) and the exit into another ditch at the far end. When water was coming over the top of that area one year, I unblocked at the other end , simply by removing dirt, crud, leaves etc reveling an old pipe. Water flowed through, then the water emptied at the other end. Since then, water has not come over the top.

The issue is that the fence is almost in the ditch. The posts are 100mm in width and appear to be in solid.