# Protecting Irrigation from Traffic



## crussell (Mar 12, 2018)

Hey there,

Yesterday I was doing some work in the yard at home and figured it was a good time to fire up my irrigation system for the year. My main valve box that ties into my water supply is located about a foot off my driveway. I lifted the lid, reached down to the shutoff valve and as soon as I turned it on, the box started filling with water from about 4 different broken fittings.

I blow out my lines every fall, so I'm ruling out freeze damage - But I do know that it is very common for my truck tire to go off the edge of the pavement, and likely right over the top of the valve box and underground piping...

So right now I know that I grenaded the main valve box, and I'm going to dig up the lines in the immediate area to make sure they are ok or fix as needed

MY QUESTION - I'm turning this area next to the driveway into gravel for misc. parking, so vehicle traffic is going to continue even more. What have you done to add an extra level of protection from your lines/valve boxes?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

How big are the mouse holes for your pipes into the valve box? I think you want to make sure that there is at least an inch of extra space above the pipe so if the box moves down, it won't touch the pipes.


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## crussell (Mar 12, 2018)

g-man said:


> How big are the mouse holes for your pipes into the valve box? I think you want to make sure that there is at least an inch of extra space above the pipe so if the box moves down, it won't touch the pipes.


That was part of my problem, will definitely make sure to oversize the holes during my re-vamp.

My other problem, was I didn't do a good job of putting the boxes on firm compacted subgrade, so after things settled the boxes sunk... Again, something I'll be fixing.


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## crussell (Mar 12, 2018)

I think I'm going to sleeve the line in this area for additional protection, and install an oversized box with extra clearance. Will also make the sub grade unyielding to prevent the box from sinking.


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## hsvtoolfool (Jul 23, 2018)

Set the box on pavers around the edge of the hole. This spreads out the force over a larger area. It should support a car. There are also pre-cast concrete boxes available if you're worried about the box integrity.

Jess Stryker's Irrigation tutorials has nice drawing on the proper vavle box intsall...










I'd use compacted limestone gravel for the entire floor, then set the pavers around the outer edge on the gravel, then set the box on the pavers.

Good luck!


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## crussell (Mar 12, 2018)

Ok update - Progressing through about 4 house projects at once and finally got the last valve boxes I was waiting on to finish rebuilding my main water supply piping.

I've been using a set of a local city's standard drawings which include many for irrigation installation, an example is below.

While I did not follow this _exactly_, I did get pretty close. I used all brass fittings from my water supply, to my DVCA. I got a legit curb stop valve, I sleeved my valves access points with 8" PVC, used drainage fabric and peagravel for the dry wells, going to use pavers to set my boxes, and plumbed piping "up" into my box, no through it. About the only thing I didn't do was order a precast concrete valve box, however I am going to double box where my DVCA is. Double boxing lets me have more clearance above/below the DVCA, as well as provides an extra level of protection. The top box will take any load/settling without transferring to the lower box.

My only heartburn right now that I'm not quite sure about - For my brass connections, I used teflon tape, probably 3-5 wraps minimum. I got everything plumbed up tight, at least I thought... Once I got everything hooked up last night and turned the water on, there were 3 locations where the threaded connections had a very very small amount of water seeping it's way out. When I say a very small amount, I mean I don't think I even saw one drip. But if I wiped a paper towel around the joint, there would be a trace amount of water.

Is this something I can live with? To go back and re-tape these (would also add pipe dope) would mean disassembling everything. Can brass threads get worn out from too much tightening, untightening, etc..?

I did some googling. A faucet that drips once per 60 seconds, is 30 gallons a year. Even with 3 fittings seeping water, I would never even notice this on my water bill. Any thoughts before I backfill and bury everything?


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