Best Off Grid Mountain Road Water Erosion Control video ever!
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- čas přidán 10. 09. 2019
- This is a video created to show how to deal with water eroding away your Mountain Road (gravel, rock, dirt) even if you are off grid like me. With a few basic reused materials that are Cheaper, Stronger and more efficient than anything else out there for this type of situation, you can once again take back your road from the water and the problems that flow with it.
I came across the use of some property, but soon found out that accessing it was a BIG problem. The road or what was left of it hadn't been maintained in YEARS and mother nature had done what she does best and had taken back huge sections of it making it impassible, even sticking my 4x4 truck, in a section of deep ruts on a very steep approach. Right then I knew I had to do something to even be able to access this peaceful and beautiful wilderness.
I explored different types of dirt/tree water bars all of which required constant maintenance to keep operational for long. I looked at store bought options, Too much$$$$$ for me to spend knowing how many I might have to do. Then I came across the Hwy guard rail method. Why not I thought, they were made to be outside, were very heavy duty, thick and already galvanized to withstand the elements and traffic beating down on them.
I searched the internet for how to videos on the best way to install these after stumbling across the idea on a forest road maintenance post but was unable to locate any. After confirming the idea with an old rock truck driver I was convinced to give it a try.
A quick google search found a few businesses that have made buying these used guardrails (ones that were taken down because they were replacing that section of roadway for one reason or the other) easy as a phone call. I would suggest calling them to get your material cost, they have contacts for shipping but try to find the closest one as this will be a big expense, one supplier was higher for the shipping then the actual materials!
Besides the guardrails, you'll need some shovels, pick mattock and a good back! Installing these is not easy work by any means and how hard it is will greatly depend on the soil in your area. Mine was rocky and light packed gravel mixed with clay. I averaged one panel installed in about 2 hours from start to finish, including grading the area around it.
Lay your guard rail out in the spot you would like to install it. Put it at angle with the lower side running towards the natural slope of the road at that point. They do not all need to be facing the same way so dont try to fight gravity, which if installed on the downslope and with enough angle will catch any water that has collected and take it down the guardrail right off your roadway.
Once its laid on top of the road in the place you want and your satisfied with the adjustments, begin using it as a guide and dig out your trench.
Dig the trench down deep enough that the guard rail will be flush with the surface of the road and about 2" wider and about 6" longer on each side than the guard rail to give you some play and make it easier in the long run.
Once the trench is dug to the required depth and width, visually look and see if there are any high spots, if you arent the visual kinda person, take a long straight object (2x4 works good) and lay it in the trench to see if there are any high spots. Dig out any high spots until you have a nice flat area for the guard rail to sit in. This is a very important step, so don't just throw it in there, take the time to do it right or don't do it at all. If you got lazy and did just throw it in there, you will get a bounce with it every time you go over it, preventing it from settling, allowing more dirt/rocks to work its way under it and eventually you'll be digging it out to fix what you could have prevented in the first place.
Place the guard rail in the trench and walk on it to see if its got any bounce or give in it due to the area underneath not being flat. Be sure that your trench is deep enough that the panel sits below the surface. If everything looks good, start filling the dirt in around it. I went a little further and tried to stuff as much dirt as I could into the cavities on the ends and the holes, but recently after discussing this with someone I think an easier method would be to buy some cement mix and use it to fill in the holes. Do not worry about getting dirt in the rail as it will all get cleaned out in the end. Pack it all in, grade it out and remove the excess dirt that ended up in the rail.
Lastly grab some bigger rocks and place them in a cascading fashion on the low end of the rail, when it rains and water is flowing swiftly, it will go over this mixed rock, slow down and disperse rather then taking all the soil at the end of your rail away and creating ruts there. Little ruts will just get bigger and bigger causing you once again to do more work then if you just did it right the first time :) I wish you the best of luck & hope it helped.
That's genius. I'm taking your idea.
Thanks for posting this video. I certainly appreciate it.
And a sarcastic thanks to the CZcams algorithm for providing this about 2 years later than when I first started searching!
I’ve got some old H beam that was wrecked in a fire and I put that in a few years ago and wow what a difference. Just need another 15 x 6 metre lengths. Tried some pressure treated lumber nailed into a U channel but that didn’t stay anchored in to the laterite gravel here. Even used 8” steel rods but the vehicles knocked them about too much. Greetings from the south western corner of Australia.
Glad i found your video - 4 years late. This looks like a durable solution. One question: where did you get the guard rails? Thanks for sharing your solution.
Awesome man! Great knowledge!
As always, many hands make light work. I built a French drain over a few weeks to take lots of water away from my foundation to the middle of the front lawn 100 feet away. I marked the lawn all the way along with a groundcover that blooms delicate blue flowers so that I always will know the exact path, the location where the huge pit i filled with rocks and stones is located. I bagged all the soil, over 2 summers it helped me to put up many of my original 300 potted plants which had been my own cuttings, for a future property.
Gold! Thanks mate.
Where did you get ahold of those? Thanks
Where have all the Guards Rail Gone? Long-time passing ....
I share your pain of a step driveway. There have been gravel truck drivers who've refused to drive down our road. Right now, we still have open water bar ditches because we're finishing construction on a house at the bottom of the hill. When the construction is done, and the truck traffic stops, I plan to use 2" x 12" boards fastened together on both sides to sandwich an old conveyor belt in the middle. I'm going to bury the 2" x 12"s vertically exposing about 2" of conveyor belt. That will create the water run off with the conveyor belt but still let vehicles pass over it without a big bump. I'll still have to replace gravel on the upslope side of the water bar every now and then, but at least our driveway will be smoother than now with our open ditches. And, I can still grade it with the dozer without tearing up the buried conveyor belt. Hope all that makes sense.
Where do you get used guardrail ?
Great Idea ! I am in the Philippines and guardrails are unheard of. But I know what to look for. My problem is my road is semi hard limestone. I guess I am looking at cement and rebar.
Do you have a small machine with a hydraulic breaker? Such as the machines on www.MCMUSA.equipment. If so you can use the machine to break out the limestone quickly and deep enough to install a natural water erosion control system.
Where do you find the used highway guardrail?
Where’d you get the used guardrails from?
Will you show an update of how they held up, also can you use a snow plow over these in the winter?
No way you can plow over it without lifting the plow. You would tear it right up.
What if you made riff raff bars here and there? Clean 4 to 6 inch stone 4 ft wide bars ever so often? I was wondering if you have tried this? I'm thinking of trying.
I have a question: Dealing with the identical issue as in this video, I have been regrading the road by dragging a skid and smoothing out the ruts. With the guard rails installed, that will be impossible. Or can you drag a skid over them without tearing them up and out of the ground?
Where do you get your guardrails?
Where do I get the guard rails where to buy.😊
Flex seal!
I'd like to know how this system has held up since the guardrails were put in? Has it required any type of maintenance? I have a similar site out at Sante Fe, NM and am looking for a Contractor who might do this type of work but its been very challenging to find any info on this.
I saw another youtuber who does this exact same thing on his driveway. Search "GENIUS Solution for Driveway Erosion" by Perma Pasture Farm. I am interested in putting in a few myself as we continue to battle with our driveway erosion and wasted so much money on trying to correct it with just dumping rocks on it and it keeps washing out with heavy rainfall...so this may be the solution but still in researching phase. Thanks.
Where can i find these gaurdrails? What should I search for on google, or who should i call locally? Highway dept? I have no idea where to even begin to look for these.
Anyone know where to get these? Im in Arkansas and can’t seem to find any of them.
Heck yeth. Lemme see what's around here.
Where did u get the gard rail
How do you keep mud and debris from plugging up the rails?
It just washes itself out. And if the product is robust enough it doesn’t matter as the debris won’t harm the guardrail. Self cleaning, so to speak!
This is really interesting, where can you find these guardrails?
Sometimes they are in scrap yards, or they have about two or three companies in the US that stockpile these after they are taken down and replaced by the Department of Transportation
Depends on your state.
googled it found used at $2.15 a foot. They come in 12' and 25'.
@@chucktallior786 Thank you! I will definitely consider them for projects!
@@typethreebangboxcom7377 Thanks for the tip, I appreciate it!
I am also considering iy. How is it lasting after almost a year?
How do you keep them from filling up with rocks?
Probably doesn’t. Just clears them on the regular.
I've been looking online and I cant find anything for a reasonable price. Any links anyone?
You need to trim back the sides of ur driveway before it’s overgrown. I have an arm trimmer on my excavator that will do it nicely.
How is it driving over these? Much of a speed bump?
how about walking lol
Damn I got rid of ours!