OT-Stabilizing stream bank

Sorry, I know this is off topic but I know someone will have a good answer. We have a stream right next to the farm lane. The stream is starting to move closer to the lane and to the fance. At one point it is almost under the fence. Anyone have any good tricks for stabilizing the bank so it doesnt wash as much? The bank is just about vertical, so I cant really just dump a bunch of fill in there. I think if I did that it would just slide down the bank and dam up the creek....IDeas..??

I remember when they used to use junk cars for that, but it became environmentally incorrect. Now you pretty much have to use stone rip rap or big boulders, whatever you can get and place.

How big of a creek?? You might want to check with the Army Corps. of Engineers in your area. I got in hot water with them once over filling a creek bank.

Be very careful what you do because doing it wrong can get you in big trouble with the law. That said you should be able to get hold of your conservation dept. or what ever you have there and they can/will help with your problem. BTDT by the way and one good way is willows planted in/on the bank and also things like Christmas trees tied to the bank

Its just a small creek. I can jump across it. Area is about 5 ft of creek bank. I have had the conservation service out to help with cattle crossings. Took them almost a year to get the plans made....

PaMike
There are several approaches to stream bank stabilization. First and perhaps easiest is to dump rip-rap stone (6" - 8" stones) and work them into a dense cover for the exposed earth bank followed by a layer of 2"- 3" crushed stone to fill between the larger rip-rap stones. Another popular method in this part of the world is to buy bags of premixed concrete and stack the unopened bags against the bank beginning in the stream bed and racked back about 1/4 bag width with each course, to make a retaining wall of sorts. Wet the bags after placement to set the concrete. Sometimes the concrete mix can be had for picking it up when it is out of date or partially set from large box stores who periodically clear their stock. Another method is to slope the stream bank to approximately 45 deg cover with a layer of landscape fabric/geotextile matting "enka-mat" or similar type fabric; stake the fabric in place and cover with a layer of large aggregate in the stream to the water line and add a 2" layer of topsoil above the water line and plant grass whose roots grow through the matting to stabilize the bank. If the stream is relatively small one method I have used is to lay grouted stone masonry in the stream bed up the stream bank to the normal high water level. Another is to concrete the ditch or combination of poured concrete and half concrete tiles.
Good luck with your project.
KM

Pre mix cement bags might be an option. Seen it done before. Stack them dry in place and then wet them down. Again this might get you in trouble though.

Not quite sure of the size of your stream bank problem but it doesnt make a lot of difference. You even up the grade of the bank, lay some geotextile (poly fabric) against the grade then place stone over the fabric. You would place the finer stone against the fabric then weight it down with larger rock. Any heavy stone or waste concrete is fine just so its big enough not to be carried away by the current. The fabric is the answer, the rock is just to keep it in place.

I have a stream running all the way through my farm, and it requires constant maintenance. We also pick enough stone each year that we are able to strategically dump it to aid in maintaining the creek. But I suppose what really enables me to do all that is my backhoe. Drainage is enough of an issue here that it pays to own my own.

If you have a real farm (ie: you have an FSA farm #) NRCS will show up with technical assistence and cost share.

Car or truck frames.

Rip rap - toe it in at the bottom two feet below the stream flowline so the flow won't undermine it.

Paul

Careful if dumping something into a stream. After the big floods a few years ago in our area, some farms had hundreds of semi loads of sand on their bottom grounds. They were not alowed to shove it back into the river at any location.

We still use a lot of broken concrete around here ,and nobody makes a stink about it .

In 86 we got our bottom land flooded. Carried in four or five feetof silt. Corp of Engineer would not open dam flood gates and backed up water and silt settled out. They finaly decided they was going to lose a dam and opened the gates and flooded everyone down stream, D9 Dozers spend weeks leveling it off.Finally got a good crop this year. Talk about some weird soil tests.
gitrib

better check with local wheels maybe they will stop it or at least tell you what you can and cannot do. Who owns the property.

If it is "straight down", you have a problem..

Can you get hold of some discarded large tile from the County..or Twp..??

Otherwise, if there is no high-flow levels, some loads of #2 stone, heaved onto that side of the creek will stop the bottom from progressing over...they stay in place pretty well..
Ron..

Here in New York you can get arrested if you mess with a creek bed before getting permission - with a few exceptions.

Also, if that creek is a property boundary, the laws of Accretion usually prevent you from fixing.
Nature is allowed to change boundary lines, and one owner loses while another gains.

Watch out for any granola crunchin hippies. My neihbor got in trouble for his cows going down to his creek that was being restored by the state. They said it was becasue of the manure. The next week they were down there spredding steer manure to fertilize the grass.

Real genius program that is.

Watch out for any granola crunchin hippies. My neihbor got in trouble for his cows going down to his creek that was being restored by the state. They said it was becasue of the manure. The next week they were down there spredding steer manure to fertilize the grass.

Real genius program that is.

Watch out for any granola crunchin hippies. My neihbor got in trouble for his cows going down to his creek that was being restored by the state. They said it was becasue of the manure. The next week they were down there spredding steer manure to fertilize the grass.

Real genius program that is.