Driveway Swale Drain at Alstonvale NSW – 0100.A

PROJECT:

Farm access road required roadside drains to be cleaned up and protected from further erosion. Concrete Erosion Mats were applied to swale drains along road edges and to entrance of culverts.

LOCATION:

Sneath’s Road ALSTONVALE NSW 2477

PROJECT STATS:

• 204 square metres – 85 Linear metres
• 5 x 15m and 1 roll x 10m Rolls
• 7 hours – start t finish
• 1 x 5 ton excavator with bucket
• 1 operator and 2 labourer

OUR REF ACM 0100A

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Swale drains were required for the roadside drains on a farm entrance road in Alstonvale NSW. Swale drains were lined with Australian Concrete Mats to solve the problem of the roadside not having curbs or guttering, which would result in sediment blocking downstream drains.

 Swales are designed to slow and capture runoff by spreading it horizontally across the landscape (along an elevation contour line), facilitating runoff infiltration into the soil.The drains are designed to be broad and shallow, and would be vegetated with grass that would grow through the mats.

By choosing the flexible concrete erosion mat the swale drain would protect the ground from erosion and be easily maintained and mowed when the vegetation had grown. 

WORKS UNDERTAKEN

• The edges of the road were dug out and swale drains shaped
• The excess soil was cleaned out of the stormwater outlet
• the area around drain and along the swale drain was seeded
• Concrete mat rolls placed into position alongside of the roadside in preparation to unroll into place
• The concrete mat geogrid was easily cut and shaped to go around an existing tree and stormwater outlet pipe
• The loader then unrolled the mats inside the swale shape of the drain up and along the road edges.
• The flexible nature of the mats ensured that they easily contoured to the curves of the landscape.
• The bucket of the loader simply pulled them when they needed straightening
• Once the mat was in position the next one was overlapped upstream, and so on as they went up the roadside
• The edges of the mat were covered in topsoil and top soil was spread over the top of the seeded matting as well
• The whole mat and drain outlet are awas then watered to encourage the seeds to grow,

RESULTS & BENEFITS:

• Reduce the velocity of the water when it flowed off the road and towards the drains.
• Encourage vegetation growth into the future to allow for the property owner to maintain the drains.
• Reduce sediment loss. Manage drain opening and access.
• Very efficient with time and resources.
• The works were completed swiftly, with minimal labour and effort
• Once laid the mats start working straight away.