Water sitting in the yard after rain, an overflowing stormwater pit, a yard drain that has stopped taking water, a river-flat block that never dries. We clear, reline and replace stormwater lines and lay subsoil drains in Nowra, Berry and across the Shoalhaven. Tell us what the water is doing and which part of the block is wettest.
Get a Quote →Drainage work covers surface stormwater — getting rain off roofs and paving away quickly — and subsoil drainage, which stops groundwater building up against footings underground. The Shoalhaven has two quite different drainage problems depending on where you are: river flats around Nowra and Bomaderry sit on heavier clay soil near the Shoalhaven River, and Berry on the Broughton Creek flats, ground that can be slow to drain and prone to backing up during river flood events, while coastal suburbs like Culburra Beach, Vincentia and Huskisson sit on sandier ground with a higher water table closer to the coast.
A proper fix usually starts with a camera inspection of existing stormwater pipes to check for silt, collapse or root intrusion, then either clearing and relining what's there or installing new ag drain around wet areas, designed for whichever soil type is actually on site rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Stormwater pits, downpipe lines and yard drains jetted clear and camera-checked, from Nowra town blocks to coastal properties in Culburra Beach.
Perimeter ag drains installed to suit the ground — heavier clay drainage around Nowra and Berry, sandy high-water-table drainage near the coast.
Collapsed, cracked or silted stormwater pipe replaced or relined, including sections affected by tree roots along established streets in Nowra and Bomaderry.
Yards near the Shoalhaven River or low-lying coastal blocks regraded and drained so water moves to a legal discharge point instead of sitting.
Three things decide a drainage job here: the fall of the block, where the water is allowed to go, and what the ground is made of. A block that falls away from the street is the hard one. The ground sets the rest: on the river flats the water table sits high and a trench can fill from below, so the levels have to be right before anything goes in. Chapter G2 of the Shoalhaven DCP 2014, Council's stormwater chapter, allows a charged line to the kerb only where there is no road gutter, table drain or drainage easement available and the site will have no more than two dwellings. The development application must include written acknowledgement from the adjoining owners that they refused an easement after being offered reasonable compensation, and show at least 1.8 m of fall from the roof gutters to the front boundary. Soaking stormwater into the ground instead needs a geotechnical report with the application, giving the depth to groundwater and the measured infiltration rate.
Flood controls depend on which floodplain plan covers the property: Chapter G9 of the Shoalhaven DCP 2014 sets separate controls for each adopted plan. The Broughton Creek plan (adopted 2012) covers Berry, the Nowra and Browns Creeks plan (adopted 12 April 2016) covers Nowra, and the Lower Shoalhaven River plan (adopted 2007) sets its own controls for Hay Avenue at Shoalhaven Heads, Greenwell Point and industrial development at Bomaderry. On a river-flat block we find out which plan applies before we put any regrading forward.
Effluent is part of it on a septic block. Shoalhaven City Council says there are more than 7,000 on-site sewage management systems in the Shoalhaven, and it inspects them every five years, or more often for high-risk systems.
Timing comes down to when the rain arrives. Bureau of Meteorology averages for Nowra RAN Air Station (station 068072, 25 years of data from 2000) put the wettest months at February (133.9 mm) and March (139.2 mm), with a second peak in June (102.3 mm) and only 44.5 mm in an average September. Spring is the window for digging: trenches stay open and the ag pipe and gravel go in dry, well before the late-summer peak.
Covering Nowra, Bomaderry, Berry, Shoalhaven Heads, Greenwell Point, Culburra Beach, Huskisson, Vincentia and Kangaroo Valley, and elsewhere in the Shoalhaven City Council area. Tell us the suburb when you send yours. Owners at Kangaroo Valley or around Sassafras should mention it: Council's stormwater chapter notes that the Sydney drinking water catchment planning controls apply to land at Kangaroo Valley and parts of the Sassafras area.
Tell us what you need and where the property is.