Open Association of Landscape Industries
Land drains info'
An area at a hotel complex site has been excavated and
the now level sub soil has a pool of water sitting on it after
the heavy rain. They were planning on just putting 4" of
top soil on it ready for grass seeding.
It is about 35 m by 25 m and has a sloped pathway from
one of the car parks winding up to the new level area.
I have put in a few single land drains, but never over an area
like this. I have convinced the managers at the hotel to have this
done to prevent a quadmire in the winter, and they will get the
groundworkers to do this.
Just really need to have some ideas about the spacing and the
sort of SUD that will be required.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Simon Smith on -
Having been involved with a few the side channels were all layed about 3-4m spacing.
I assume this is going to have to drain to a soakaway? is the sub soil heavy clay?
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Rich AGS on -
John
if the subsoil is very compacted i would break up the compaction before you put the drains in, this would allow the water to get to the drains much faster,
drains all depends on size of pipe and type of ground is it sand soil or clay , sandy soil the drains could be 4m apart or clay 2 m apart
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Permalink Reply by Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com on -
Hi John
Being a landscaper and garden designer in Glasgow for 10 years, there aren't many jobs I come across that don't involve severe drainage issues!
If it's a hotel complex then perhaps they could be a little bit more creative with a storm-water management solution than simply draining into the ground - in fact they could use the site of this pooling as a solution for their entire drainage network over the whole complex if they wanted to, but perhaps the development is too far advanced in its construction stage for that.
In any case the fact that water is pooling is an opportunity to create a dry/wet pond with surrounding vegetative-swales (or simply wet-planting instead) and further grade the surrounding land to purposefully direct surface water toward this point: they could even drain any of the hotel's road/car park surface water if nearby. If constructed sensibly they can create a great looking feature for the hotel that offers not only aesthetic interest and an additional place where residents could sit around, but also a fantastic natural play space for children. The idea with these types of ponds is that they look good and are accessible when both full of water or completely dry.
Alternatively some vegetative-swales could be introduced to stem the flow of surface water migrating toward this point and these would also create some visual interest although would obviously have a lower aesthetic and interactive value.
Otherwise a good resource for drainage guidance and spec is the Paving Expert website: http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain03.htm
In my experience with mass compacted sub-clay then 3.m spacing for channels is sufficient using minimum channel depth/width of 600.mm and an aggregate grade of minimum 20.mm.Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com | Twitter: @gardndesign
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Permalink Reply by Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com on
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John: A great wee example of what I'm describing above: http://biology.edgewood.edu/pages/about/photos.htm
cheers
Nicky
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Permalink Reply by John on -
Thanks everyone,
They have their levels finished now so they will not be breaking up
the sub soil , in one corner there is to be a play area with a rubber surface
and the other corner will have a small raised pool which will have a few round
spheres for the children to climb inside and roll about on the water. - Not my idea.
The dry/wet pond would be a good idea, but for the health and safety aspect of being
so close to the play areas. Although it has been excavated and lowered, it is still
a few feet higher than the rest of the inner complex where the swimming pool is.
It would be feasible to put in a large holding tank to store water for use around that
area of the hotel, - but not sure if this is safe to use ?
Anyone know how big the soakaway needs to be, and the size of gravel.
Rich AGS said:John
if the subsoil is very compacted i would break up the compaction before you put the drains in, this would allow the water to get to the drains much faster,
drains all depends on size of pipe and type of ground is it sand soil or clay , sandy soil the drains could be 4m apart or clay 2 m apart
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Permalink Reply by Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com on
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John www.acegardenservices.co.uk said:
The dry/wet pond would be a good idea, but for the health and safety aspect of being
so close to the play areas.
Does anyone know of any legislation that dictates on these types of things being unsafe? There are many projects throughout Europe that are created specifically to be accessible for children's play. The ponds are very shallow it should be noted.
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Permalink Reply by John on
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The hotel managers are against having any open area of water
however shallow. They have had to fill in one large outdoor swimming
pool because of the new regulations, and the second had to be reduced in depth
and surrounded with a metal fence with heavy swing gates.
Local children also get into the area at times and often damage things,
so they are not taking any chances.
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Permalink Reply by Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com on
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John www.acegardenservices.co.uk said:
The hotel managers are against having any open area of water
however shallow. They have had to fill in one large outdoor swimming
pool because of the new regulations, and the second had to be reduced in depth
and surrounded with a metal fence with heavy swing gates.
Local children also get into the area at times and often damage things,
so they are not taking any chances.
That's obviously a pity but fair enough.
Do you have a link to the regulations that affected the Hotel's decisions mate?
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Permalink Reply by John on
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This is all I can find,
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/Pool-safety-rules-hit-hotels-rece...
Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com said:John www.acegardenservices.co.uk said:
The hotel managers are against having any open area of water
however shallow. They have had to fill in one large outdoor swimming
pool because of the new regulations, and the second had to be reduced in depth
and surrounded with a metal fence with heavy swing gates.
Local children also get into the area at times and often damage things,
so they are not taking any chances.
That's obviously a pity but fair enough.
Do you have a link to the regulations that affected the Hotel's decisions mate?
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