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Rolling Dip / Water Bar

rolling dip post fire
water bar post fire


What – Altering road template.

Purpose – Rolling dips are used to drain water effectively from the road surface and prevent concentration of water.

Effectiveness – No effectiveness monitoring data exists on rolling dips.  Rolling dips and outsloping are common treatments used to disperse flows and prevent stream diversion.  Rolling dips are constructed easily with a dozer but often are too short in length, or too shallow to contain the expected flows. Often, a rolling dip/water bar is armored and used instead of a culvert upgrade because of its relatively low cost.  However, it may erode away with strong currents in high discharge.

Where

  • Roads with a continuous grade and infrequent drainage structures.
  • Roads with grades less than 15 percent.

Cost – $390–1200 per dip.  Additional factors include:

  • Production rates
  • Amount of excavation and material movement
  • Equipment necessary
  • Armoring requirements

How to Links – See USDA BAER Catalog page 110 (PDF page 118); and additional illustrations.