Dunnebacke Constructors
Drainage & Erosion Control · Hendersonville, TN
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(615) 887-1194
Dunnebacke Constructors
Drainage & Erosion Control · Hendersonville, TN
The slope alongside a concrete driveway was washing out badly — years of runoff had undercut the edge, carved a deep channel, and left exposed raw soil that kept getting worse with every rain. We reshaped the swale, installed geotextile fabric, placed riprap along the full length, then seeded and straw-matted the slope to lock it in permanently.
This homeowner in Hendersonville called us because the slope running alongside their concrete driveway had been washing out for years. What started as minor erosion had turned into a serious problem — the runoff channel had cut several feet deep alongside the drive, exposing raw subsoil and undercutting the edge of the pavement itself.
Every heavy rain made it worse. Without intervention, the continued erosion would eventually compromise the structural integrity of the driveway edge — and the cost of a full driveway repair would have dwarfed the cost of addressing the erosion properly now.
A lot of contractors would throw some rock in the hole and call it done. That doesn't fix anything — the water still flows the same way, it just moves the rock. We approached this as a drainage and erosion control problem, not a landscaping problem, which changes how you solve it.
We regraded the swale alongside the driveway to give the water a proper, controlled path to flow — eliminating the concentration point that was causing the deep channel to form.
Geotextile fabric was laid across the entire slope before the riprap went in. This is what separates a permanent fix from a temporary one — the fabric prevents the underlying soil from migrating up through the rock while still allowing water to pass through freely.
We placed riprap — angular rock — along the full length of the driveway slope over the geotextile fabric. The rock absorbs and disperses the energy of the flowing water so it can't pick up and carry soil particles anymore.
The area alongside the riprap was seeded and covered with erosion-control straw matting to stabilize the remaining exposed soil and establish vegetation — giving the slope long-term biological anchoring that works with the rock, not just instead of it.
The video below shows the completed project. The driveway edge is fully protected, the swale has a clean defined shape, the riprap is locked in over geotextile fabric, and the slope is seeded and matted. The next rain isn't going to move any of this.
The homeowner no longer has to watch that slope wash away every time it rains. The combination of proper swale shaping, geotextile fabric, riprap, and vegetation gives this fix multiple layers of protection — each one reinforcing the others. This is how erosion control is supposed to be done.
If you have a slope eroding, a driveway edge washing out, water concentrating and cutting channels in your yard, or soil disappearing after every rain — that's exactly what we specialize in. We serve Hendersonville, Gallatin, Goodlettsville, Millersville, Mount Juliet, Lebanon, and throughout Middle Tennessee.
Call us or fill out the estimate form. We'll come look at it, tell you exactly what's happening and why, and give you a straight quote.
Free estimates — we'll come look at your property and give you a straight quote.