In a very disrupted couple of weeks .. we had steady rain all last week from Tuesday to Friday and some on Saturday afternoon too (a total of about 25mm of rain) .. Whilst Stephen worked on the Larch Burner Shaun got on with a task that we have been meaning to do for a while plus also take an opportunity to eliminate the ton of wasted slate bits and pieces.
Yes the Berm across our driveway that has been protecting us from flood water that comes down our Loke. It is currently constructed using a line of 2inch by 6inch planks held vertically and a line of house bricks on either sides to form a sharp hump. Unfortunately, it proves to be too sharp and some vehicles suffer scraping damage to their metal and plastic underbelly. Also during the heaviest rain falls, the water still gets over and floods our driveway.
Loke-Driveway-Berm-1
So we surveyed the Berm and discovered that the line of planks dips down in the middle by three or four inches but otherwise it is pretty level. We have marked the fence post and the brick wall of the raised flower bed to the height of the existing Berm and we will use a string pulled taut to build the hump to the required height and level.
After removing the old planks and about 140 bricks and sweeping aside the sand to one side, we are left with the original driveway material (made from recycled motorway tarmac and granite chippings).
We then cut down through this layer to the sand underneath and pulled apart the driveway skin to form a trench a few feet wide and 4inches deep. We calculated that this trench will be spacious enough to take all the slate waste, crushing each slate into tiny pieces to avoid forming slippery layers.
But first, before we get to that part of the job, we dug out all the weeds in and around the flower bed end of the Berm, removed two paving slabs which were relocated to the middle of our yard to provide a new incinerator venue so we can get on top of getting rid of the wooden rubbish we have been collecting for the last few months.
Driveway-berm-excavated
Shaun then got smashing! (We welded some bits of metal to the base of the metal thumper to help break the slates) Over a last few days all the waste slates were placed in the trench and smashed.
Driveway-Berm-All-the-scrap-slates-smashed-up-in-the-trench
We now just have to add some more material to make the ‘hump’ of the berm and replace the driveway material over the top.