[sendinfo2me]

We need to divert rain water from around the foundation of our home. We had a gutter system put on the roof line of our home, but the gutters down spouts still dump the rainwater around the foundation of the house.

We want to divert the water through pipes further away from the house. One especially bad area has a sidewalk and we need to tunnel under the sidewalk to get the water away from the house.

We need advise on how to tunnel under the sidewalk without damaging it and installing a pipe to drain the water from the down spout away from the house.

Thanks so much!

[ballengerb1]

It is a bit more involved than you might think. You need to dig a work hole on each side so you can step down inside the hole below the bottom of the sidewalk. The sidewalk is normally laid in several inches of gravel and you can use a sledge hammer to drive a large iron pipe through the gravel. You may need to do this several times to get the space large enough for your drain pipe. Do not worry about the concrete breaking from this, it can take it. Remember that this low spot under the sidewalk can not be lower than the rest of the drain pipe, it must continue to slope away from the home.

[21boat]

Just to add to Bal good advice

Remember that this low spot under the sidewalk can not be lower than the rest of the drain pipe, it must continue to slope away from the home

To calculate that slope to see if this is feasible no less then a 1/2"" fall per foot for proper drainage. Normally fall for walks are set at 1/4" per ft. And so is plumbing. Don't know what your GEO is but the water in the pipe could freeze if the slope is not a fast drainer