×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Privacy berm slopes
2

Privacy berm slopes

Privacy berm slopes

(OP)
I have a land developer who wants to put in a properly engineered privacy berm between his subdivision and the neighbooring subdivision.  He wants it around 9' tall. What are the standard slopes of a berm?  Neglecting soil type. I am looking for the average slope steepness.  

RE: Privacy berm slopes

Neglecting soil type, there is no answer to your question.

f-d

¡papá gordo ain't no madre flaca!

RE: Privacy berm slopes

grass or graveled? clay or sand? is safety a concern? what about multi-use opportunities? lacking anything more, I would go with at least 3:1 or flatter.

RE: Privacy berm slopes

You can't neglect soil type with this, as your soil type basically drives the answer to your question, and the answer will vary by region because of it.

For example, 2:1 is the usual limit for stuff in central to north Georgia, which has clayey soils, but 3:1 is often required if you're going to seed it instead of sod it.  4:1 is generally the limit down in Florida, where land is flat and soils are sandy.  Sometimes regulatory agencies in hillier areas with clay soils will allow you to go 1.5:1 if you sod it, and you *stake* the sod.  

Your local land development code usually addresses this issue, and increasingly those are available online.  Fish around Google, or possibly Municode.  Also don't be shy about talking to your local reviewing agency.  Chances are you'll have to get a permit anyway, especially if you're including any drainage works in your plan, which it may very well need.

Basically, you're looking at a berm that's anywhere from 27 to 72 feet wide, depending on local regs.  I don't know what your land plan is like, but if losing that real estate gives your developer heart burn, which I find it often does, he'll change his plan fairly quickly from "earthen berm" to "privacy fence with vegetation."  :)

If you get to the point where you are indeed going to do a berm of some height, pay a lot of attention to the drainage so you don't create any birdbaths on either side of it.  You may need breaks in the berm, or culverts of some kind.  The first time you flood your neighbors out, that berm gets a lot more expensive.


 

Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East - http://www.campbellcivil.com

RE: Privacy berm slopes

beejb7 has an excellent summary.

If it's going to be grassed and mowed, anything below steeper than 4:1 won't work.
We designed some stormwater ponds recently and had the slopes at 3:1 by the request of the client.
I feel sorry for the maintenance staff.  The entire area has to be trimmed with a weedeater.

RE: Privacy berm slopes

I'd use 3H:1V if you have to mow it. That said, I'd also specify a soil type and a minimum level of compaction.

beejb7 - a fine post!

f-d

¡papá gordo ain't no madre flaca!

RE: Privacy berm slopes

Can't remember the name, but there was a product (Greenwall?) which looked like fireplace log holders that could stack on each other - fill the inside with earth and then you can vegetage both sides - flowers, plants, etc.  Would take up very little room and be a whole lot more pleasing perhaps.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources