| Field and Tile Repair |
| Cotton Trucking and Excavating often gets calls from landowners who have mysterious holes that have developed in their yards. There may be only one hole or there may be several in a line. Those who have filled in the holes report that they reappear after a while and many tell us they are concerned because their mystery holes are growing larger. |
| What could they be? |
| Historically, Michigan’s Thumb Area is a land of many wet and swampy woodland areas. Farmers and other land owners cleared the land to but found the ground too wet to establish their needs in these high groundwater table soil types. We have many ways to provide drainage including tiles for these residents to dry their land out enough to keep moisture and water out. Farmers have installed these tiles by the miles by hand, on average about 3 feet deep, draining the groundwater to the nearest ditch or stream. |
| Drainage tiles are sized according to how much water flows through them. Some tiles, only a few inches wide, are used on the upper reaches of the water shed. These connect, often to larger tiles which eventually empty into ditches or streams. It is estimated that we have more miles of drainage tile in our Thumb area than we have roads. These tiles have worked diligently in crop fields, with little maintenance, for hundreds of years. |
| Cotton Trucking and Excavating can fix this problem with ease. The tiles have two main reasons for failure – tree roots and construction. Tree roots can grow into drainage tiles and clog them, and construction can crush, cut or plug tiles. Cotton Trucking and Excavating can find a blockage or breakage of the tile. |
| The holes that develop are called ‘blow holes” because they are created by the mounting water pressure in the tile. These blow holes will grow larger and/or more holes will develop along the tile line unless the tile is cleaned out and repaired. Broken tiles can be dug up to see which direction they are running or you can use a tile probe to follow it. If a ditch or stream is nearby you may be able to find the outlet end. Once we find the tile direction, we will look to see what the problem is. Cotton Trucking and Excavating will find the best way to repair it. Clay tiles can be roto-rootered to clean them out, then replace or repair the broken tile areas. If a tile was broken or plugged during building construction the old field tile should be located on both sides of the building and the tile re-routed around the building. |
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In new construction always take this precaution, even if the tile appears to be clogged with sediment and no longer functioning. Tiles which are cut can clean themselves out eventually. We’ve seen basement sump pumps pumping an unbelievable amount of water because an old field tile was draining right to their basement wall. NEVER PLUG AN OLD FIELD TILE! Intentionally plugging a tile will only cause blowholes above and behind it. Cotton Trucking and Excavating will check to see if your property has a high ground water table soil type. |
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