Steep concrete driveway. Banked slightly so that water follows the driveway down to a drain. In a really hard rain, or if the neighbor’s culvert overflows, the amount of water can overwhelm the banking and slip off the side. It did some wash-out of the bank recently and I want to prevent that in the future. There’s nothing left on that side as a gutter; just a 45 degree drop. The driveway has not been undercut though. What’s a good material to attach to the side of the concrete slab as a bit of a raised curb to keep the water going downhill rather than over the side? There’s really nothing on which to base a traditional poured curb–the drop off is too steep. Only need an inch rise to stop all water, but higher would be better, if I can snag an extra benefit, to keep cars from slipping off that side.
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Cloud,
You could probably do a little digging,place some gravel and lay a course or two of decorative concrete block (made for landscaping). Let them extend up above the concrete about an inch or two and that should create enough of a ledge to direct the water downhill. Some will make it down into the joint between the two materials but most should run downhill (at least in a hard rain). Digging a french drain along the edge of the drive and installing a drain and gravel might be another option but I would be a little leary of undermining the edge of the driveway as you would have to dig deeper to make it work. Good luck
Mark
Take a look at how the poured sidewalls are added to highways, especially the raised parts such as bridges.
You'd have to spend some retrofitting time, drilling into the edge of the driveway to insert many dowels and attach a little (but very long) rebar cage. Then add a form to the outboard side - use the ground as the bottom of the form - and pour a stiff mixture. To finish, sculpt a screed (reversed) in the profile you want to see on the top, put on the old knee pads and have at it.
There are also curb machines, with adjustable profiles, that you could use to place the concrete over your rebar cage and forms.
Hmmmmm. Might be the smart way to go... Thanks.
Last time I was in one of the big boxes I noticed a display advertising poured in place borders. They came in different styles and colors and were poured in a continuos process. I don't remember the price, it was priced per foot with a minimum, but I remember it sounding reasonable. If I get a chance, next time I'm in the area, I can get a brochure with more information and an address. I don't know if this is available in your area but it might be worth a look.
Found a site that has something similar, it might be the exact same stuff, as what I saw a t the home center. Hard to tell.
http://www.kwikkerb.org/
I don't know if this would work or not.
Edited to add second block and link.
Edited 3/10/2003 4:39:05 PM ET by 4Lorn1
Thanks.
Finally took care of this and chose to do essentially what you suggested. Just had to get up the motivation to do the forms. No room for a rebar cage, so just stuck with lengths of it. Had enough room to carry majority of weight on the driveway and not stick much over the side. Took about a yard, and did it while doing another project (Photo Gallery).
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Another idea here might be to armor the sideslope falling away from the high side of the driveway. There are several erosion control blankets out there that would probably take care of any erosion problems you mention. The blankets are made out of HDPE plastic (I think) and are rolled out like sod and then stapled in place. They allow grass to grow through them and are pretty much invisible after that. They are supposed to reinforce the roots of the grass to make it more resistant to washout. Try looking up North American Green on the web. They make a product called C350 that's pretty diesel. This option won't prevent water from running over the edge of the driveway, but it should take care of the washout problem and is likely a lot easier to implement than any of the other options mentioned here (no offense to the other ideas).
asphalt out of the question?
they have a small machine that "builds" asphalt curbing.bobl Volo Non Voleo Joe's BT Forum cheat sheet