Hillside erosion

[glm36]

I need some tips on patchwork to personal property. My first attempt at the repair included filling the washout with redclay and creating two terrace levels. I sodded and seeded the terraces. On the steep grade, I placed hay and winter rye. A burm and hydroseeding was done in the yard.
The work was done in September of this year. I have lost at least a third of the clay. The patchwork is washing from the backside.
What can I do besides taking out a second mortgage and installing a retaining wall.

 

[bpattengale]

If you could provide more information such as what kind of slope is this washing out on, how long is the slope, what kind of soils are there, I could give you a better idea of whats needed.

Based on what you've stated is that it's a grassed slope, that is either expericing very high flows or is fairly steep. Based on that have you looked at looked at installing perminate turf reinforcement mat?

http://www.vmax3.com/products/p550.tpl

http://www.nagreen.com/

Those are just one band, but the perminate turf reinforcement mats have been tested and provide protection similar to paving it with concrete. You can mow the stuff and once it's grown in it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[cvg]

try installing a drain to take the water down the slope instead of allowing it to flow down the surface uncontrolled. this could be a channel or swale or a pipe, depending on your site conditions.

 

[cousink]

To add to cvg's suggestion, if you want to consider going that route, you might install a "brow ditch", a shotcrete channel or earthen swale along the edge of the top of your slope, that collects the sheet or surface flow as it runs toward the slope, before it continues down the slope. From the brow ditch, you can bring the runoff down the slope via the drain cvg is suggesting.

 

[francesca]

The first step is analyzing how much runoff is occuring. Regardless of the steepness of the slope, runoff from one or two houses should be sufficiently contained by correctly compacted fill and a geotextile. North American Green have plenty of products that should do the trick.

If the water is being concentrated by roof drains, then it makes sense to extend the drains down the slope. A small berm at the end of the driveway can channel driveway water into a pipe that can tie into the roof drains. In stead of a pipe, a riprap channel (underlain by geotextile) should work.

If there's runoff from the road contributing to the erosion (e.g. a drainage pipe outlet, side ditch or a curb cut) then you should contact your City/County as it could be their problem to fix, not yours.

 

[VAD]

You have been provided a variety of solutions but unless you are able to assess the cause of the washout in the first place, you will keep on trying and perhaps get lucky. Problems of this sort though small are often more difficult at times to solve because we do not fully understand their origin. Bpattengale has asked some pertinent questions and needs to be addressed. Your idea of a retaining wall tells me that you are on a hillside. Consistent with washouts, if not obvious from surface runoff, is internal seepage which may not be very noticeable - slow seep. If this is the case-assumption, your use of clay directly on the washout would not suffice.

 

[cousink]

Please just take any of my tips for what they're worth to you. By the way, some photos would help, too. Perhaps, a link to a webpage with published photos is as good as it would get at this point.