Fairway Drainage Cancel The title field is required!

1. Christopher Thuer

   

   101 posts
   
   6/20/2019 11:06 AM

   Looking for opinions for backfilling over corrugated slotted pipe in a bent grass fairway. I have not done a huge turf area drainage project in over 20 years since at my previous position. The area we are draining is notoriously wet for days after a rain, mostly in the slightly depressed drainage channel in the fairway. We have been abnormally wet in the area for about a year and it is time to get this corrected.
   
   When I did this before in a few fairways we stripped the sod before cutting the trench, back filled with pea fill over the pipe to the top of the trench and replaced the sod. We installed risers for surface drains every so many feet as needed. This worked well.
   
   I have seen and heard many different ideas over the years. Backfill with pea fill, backfill with larger 1" gravel, backfill with sand, leave the backfill material exposed, replace the sod covering the fill, etc.
   
   A turf supply company has 4" pipe with a sock cover. Between the sock and the pipe is a layer of styrofoam peanuts. This is intriguing.
   
   Thoughts?

   
   Chris Thuer, CGCS, Bear Slide Golf Club, Cicero, IN
   
   
2. Andrew Cross

   

   5 posts
   
   6/20/2019 1:06 PM

   Many ways to skin the cat here. We have gone socked pipe backfill with sand only. If using gravel(pea or otherwise) or native soil (soil or heavier) then just plain slotted is fine. When we drain a fairway we typically remove all spoils and replace with sand. In the rough we go plain slotted and put the native soil right back (top soil not heavy clay)

   
   
   
   
3. Clay Putnam

   

   33 posts
   
   6/20/2019 3:06 PM

   My preferred method is to remove the sod, trench 12" deep and dispose of soil, add a thin layer of gravel to base of trench, install slotted tile, fill with gravel 4" above tile, overlay gravel layer with a torpedo sand (particle size large enough to bridge the gravel), re-sod. I have seen others, as Andrew mentioned, only use sand as a backfill and it appeared to work fine.

   
   
   
   
4. Corey Eastwood

   

   80 posts
   
   6/21/2019 11:06 AM

   My method is similar. Trench and remove spoils. Two inches of pea gravel on bottom then Ridged drain pipe with holes on bottom. Fill with pea gravel and replace sod but leave a two inch open slit. The grass will grow over the slit in time but takes a long while for thatch to form that slows the drainage. Catch basins as needed but concrete with cast iron grate. These are never damaged by heavy equipment.

   
   Corey Eastwood CGCS, Stockton Golf & CC, Retired