How To Keep Your Dirt Roads From Washing Away

This is how we maintain our forest dirt roads to keep them from washing away. To keep your dirt roads in good, a little maintenance can go a long way. I will show you some of the tricks and tips we have learned over the years to keep our forest dirt or gravel roads in good condition. How to design water bars so they more effectively direct water off the road. How to design and maintain water bars so they don't quickly plug up with sediment.

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[johnritchie]

Retired civil engineer here. When you force the water to change direction, it has to lose energy making the turn. As you point out, the more obtuse angles absorb less kinetic energy. The more acute angles absorb more energy, which leads to more erosion. My opinion is that most civil engineering is intuitive if you spent your childhood floating sticks down the roadside ditches during downpours.

[guyfuller]

Never boring watching a feller exercising good stewardship of a stunning natural landscape. Thanks!

[littlerayofsunshine]

We used to have bars cut in our driveway at about a 45⁰ angle going down a pretty steep hill. We'd regravel it with crush run every couple years because frequent heavy rains would wash it off into the creek. We got tired of buying gravel just for it to end up in the creek. I dug the bars a bit deeper, made them 90⁰ to the roadway and we put a heavy load of #4 gravel down it. Yeah, we have to go in a couple times a year with the tractor to scrape out the sediment, but them being 90⁰ to the road makes it a lot easier to scrape. Yeah, sometimes it jumps the bars during really heavy rains if they haven't been scraped, but we haven't lost any gravel to the creek, the bigger rock hasn't sunk into the clay, and it tends to stay in place better. In the 15 years since doing this, we haven't had to put a load of gravel on that hill.

[jayski]

My parents used to live on rural forested land in upstate New York so I've done my share of dirt road repairs. The damage on the end of your culverts looks like what I used to have to deal with at the end of every winter. The snow plows hit them accidentally and not just the ends. Sometimes they'd scrape hard enough to uncover them and we'd have to dig them down deeper. But I heard of a trick that the forest service used to use to divert water across the roads. They used to cut the treads off old tires and bury them on edge at the same angle as a good water bar, leaving only an inch or so above the surface of the road. That way they're easy to drive over but are just high enough to direct the water. And the only maintenance is scraping sediment away from the uphill side. Or occasionally re-burying them because the snow plows can accidentally pull these out and damage them like the culverts

[Dreyno]

As someone who lives up a steep, 250m gravel road, grading is your best friend. If you can get a machine to either crown the road or grade it to throw off to one side, it means you don’t accumulate as much water which means you can use smaller water bars. Grade it, dig a drain on the side the water is going towards and use bars to periodically throw off into it. We used to rely on water bars but it was far more effective to grade it.

[ThoughtfulBiped]

I appreciate all of your videos. As someone who grew up in an east coast suburb and found myself in the woods of N. California it is good to listen to someone who has years more experience than me reassure me that I know more than I think I do. You keep things simple and relevant. Not an easy task when so many people seem to be sensationalist know-it-all's these days. Keep up the good work.

[lucasdog]

The most in depth, informative video I've ever seen on this subject!

[tj]

It's absolutely informative and very interesting. I only just bumped into your channel and hour ago and watched several already! You are a great story teller too and very humorous and charismatic so whatever subject you talk about it's naturally interesting and entertaining ! 😀 👍🏾🙏🏾
Even you saying it's boring had me smiling 😄
I learnt something from this video today and it gives me an idea for my mother's steep land below her house that keeps washing off when it rains !
Thank you Sir 🙏🏾😁

[scotttaylor]

A second retired civil engineer and volunteer trail maintainer here. When it comes to rolling water bars, think big. The diversion is not just redirecting water. It's also redirecting everything the water is carrying with it: leaves, sticks, needles, cones, twigs, sand, gravel, etc. So construct your water bar with that extra capacity in mind so that over the course of a few winters and the resulting accumulation of debris, there is still sufficient capacity to redirect the runoff. Too many times I see water bars that are just one shovel head wide. They'll fail with the first heavy rain or at the very least, have to be reworked the next season to remain effective. Think one and done (for at least a few seasons).

[JaniLaaksonen]

I actually enjoyed watching this and would like to see the results when the rains come. If theres a pause in the rain, go film how the water flows in ones that work and the ones that might not work. I'm 33 now but can still remember how in kindergarten our favourite activity was to dig trenches to guide the rain water off the yard to the ditches.

[LilSquirrelly]

Found your channel a day ago. Watched 10 videos. Got to say you're a smart man and pass on your knowledge in an entertaining way.

[stephanygates]

I appreciate your sense of humor, and I'm learning dirt road maintenance! I was entertained throughout.

[ChickenScrape]

I need to make my water bars at more of an angle. Mine are too close to 90 degrees. I learned something from your videos and was entertained. You should be a teacher or president! LOL

[MartinStockel]

We use our John Deere JD 450B with a tilting blade to make our water bars or repair repairing bars that need it. We also make the bars at a slight angle, works great and easier to drive our truck over the bars. I sure enjoy seeing a landowner taking care of his property.

[creeharry]

I've got some timberland with dirt roads, which I have to clean up also. Also, I talk about the same as you do. No big deal, people around here understand. Have a good one, Wilson.

[lukeblackford]

I didn’t know anything about this. Thank you for explaining it. This info will be invaluable as I fantasize about owning timber property in the PNW.

[johnfilce]

I love water bars! I have a short simple road through the forest and only have this one strategy available.

[Sal-eb]

Thanks much...Old mule packer here, and hauled trailers up many a FS road in need of some TLC on the way to the TH. Brought back memories. Thanks again

[markesselstynmiller]

Great videos with lots of common forest sense and practical information.

[aaronallenlmt]

Living the indoor city life as I do these days, a little light, vicarious mattock work on youtube, and I can almost smell the fresh air like I was clearing northwest forest road water bars myself ;0)