Drainage

[C & E]

I have some shallow ditches (2" deep) cutacross the parking area at the top of a hill at my cabin. The soil is clay which is hard as a rock when dry and sticky as bread dough when wet. The tiny ditches have really eliminated the erosion down the driveway. That's the backround so here's the question. I'll be dropping the large, fist-sized stone that you all (and the quarry) have suggested that should go on first. I'm a bit concerned about the ditches. How wide and deep would you folks make them before you dump the stone. I'm expecting that every five years or so I'm going ot have a problem with silt and such negating their effect and I'll have to re-do them. This stuff is so hard I might have to rent a mini-hoe to cut the ditches! TIA

[hallerb]

the bigger and wider the ditches the longer they will last. use a backhoe, hand digging will take forever.

you might put some perrforated schedule 40 encased in sock to minimize mud clogging in the bottom of each ditch then use much bigger rocks for ditch area then cover with smaller gravel.

if you put in a bunch of such ditches their filling with silt wouldnt be so bad.

top one fills, then next one down the hill etc.

if you dont mindd overkill and a bit of added expense run multiple perforated pipes in each ditch.

if you do a reallly great job this might last forever

run the excess water far enough away from the driveway it doesnt cause other grief