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Thread: Protecting septic lines when driving over them?

  1. #16
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    When we had our new sewer system put in several dump trucks trucks drove over the 4" pvc downspout drain lines that were buried at least 24" below the surface in heavy clay soil. They completely flattened both lines they drove over. and I had to replace them. I would suspect that if you drive over the lines a lot you could have the same problem even with a smaller vehicle. It may depend heavily, no pun intended, on how much weight, how often, how deep the lines are and the type of soil.
    Lee Schierer
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  2. #17
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    In our jurisdiction you can't pave over any part of your septic system unless the system has been engineered for it (ie with an engineer's stamp on the plan) and approved by the Board of Health. AFAIK they never approve anything covering the leach field.

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by roger wiegand View Post
    they never approve anything covering the leach field.
    Open ground (preferably with grass) is part of the design. You could convert to seep tanks (dry well). This is what gave me room to plan the new shop.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  4. #19
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    If your tank has a metal handle you could buy/rent a metal detector to locate it, especially if you already have an idea where it is.
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  5. #20
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    +1 as to what Roger said. One does not pave over a septic tank or the leech field.
    Regards,

    Tom

  6. #21
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    I didnt know the septic tank could be so far away from the house. It's like 150ft. I know it has to be 100ft from the well though.

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Al Launier View Post
    If your tank has a metal handle you could buy/rent a metal detector to locate it, especially if you already have an idea where it is.
    I know where the tank is. My concern is the feed line.

  8. #23
    JMHO, it your line is sched 40 pvc, or better, and the soil is firm enough that the load doesn't leave ruts, it should be no issue. But , don't do that when the soil is wet enough that it could leave deep tracks.

    Way back when, I had a D7 Cat drive across my tank and laterals! No damage. The wonders of spreading the weight over all that tracked area.

    Edit to add: there are some products available that look like big honeycombs. Maybe 4-6"thick. It is lain with the cells vertical, filled with soil or gravel and seeded. Looks like lawn, allows water to soak down and evaporate up, and prevents wheels from sinking.
    Last edited by Ken Combs; 09-29-2020 at 2:33 PM.

  9. #24
    My father in law needed to install a some times camper pathway over some lines in his yard. His lines were already below frost line I think there, 30 inches. He got some military surplus grid of some kind.Sort of like some storm drain grates are made of. (vertical width galvanized bars about inch high, perhaps 1/4 inch thick clipped together an inch apart in a grate). he pulled up the sod about three feet long crossing over the lines and then put down the grid and then filled it in with sand and sifted soil and planted grass seed . Once the grass grew up through it, the grate could not even be seen. The US park service uses a concrete grid in the road side pull offs along the Baltimore Washington Parkway that allow the same fill in with dirt and permit the grass to grow. It looks a bit like a bunch of upside down solo cups of hardened concrete.

  10. #25
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    Houston, water table, no frost line,,,,nope I can't guess what conditions you have.

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Combs View Post
    JMHO, it your line is sched 40 pvc, or better, and the soil is firm enough that the load doesn't leave ruts, it should be no issue. But , don't do that when the soil is wet enough that it could leave deep tracks.

    Way back when, I had a D7 Cat drive across my tank and laterals! No damage. The wonders of spreading the weight over all that tracked area.
    The drain fields for both our septic systems are out in pastures. I drive over them all the time with a tractor and brush mower. Never really thought about it that much, other than to not do it when the ground is soft (but I wouldn't be out in the pasture with a tractor then anyway), but I've been driving over one of them for 25 years now.

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