Street run off

by M.Horrigan
(Akron, ohio)

I have a corner lot that seems to be the low spot at the intersection of 2 roads. I am dealing with water that is coming from two directions and when they converge, the excess water overflows into my yard and inevitably into my basement. I have added architectural structures to the landscape to try and keep this from happening but it continues. The French drain is not working. The city is telling me they will add a water inlet at the end of the street but I do not believe this will solve all the water issues, especially in a fast downpour. The other suggestion was to add a swale to the inlet. I am not sure this will help either. I have already spent about $10,000 in landscaping over the last decade and have hired 3 different landscapers-all of which swore they would solve the issues-none have! I am desperate and I really have no more $ to spend on the yard. I cannot even sell my house if I wanted to with this issue. Any advice/help would be truly appreciated!

Meg

ANSWER

Hi Meg,
The proper way to solve this problem is to start with getting a topographical survey. This will show you all the high and low elevations of your property and also the street. You would contact a Professional Surveyor to get this type of survey. Once you have it, you should contact an Professional Engineer in your area to do a proper grading plan for you. Alternatively, you can go directly to an engineer. This process will solve your problem.

Apparently your property is lower than the point at which the water converges and it has no where else to go. It is possible an inlet would work if it is large enough.

There are different ways of solving water issues depending on the individual problem. However, at some point the water must be led to an acceptable place. For example, your property can be pitched towards a drainage pit.

https://www.landscape-design-advice.com/drainage-pit.html

This is usually a last solution but one that typically works.

Susan