Arena siting-wet and flat or drier and unlevel

[Ranyhyn]

As thread title really.

Where would you choose to site your arena out of those two options?

Site A fairly level but naturally wetter in winter, near to a natural stream (could drain to?)

Site B quite unlevel, atop a slight incline so naturally drier.

Or wildcard site C meaning I move my little yard completely and utilise the area that already has hardcore down and drainage.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Best drained area.

 

[Muddywellies]

When I built a yard some years ago now, we had a boggy and fairly useless corner of the field, right by the stables and next to a brook. We chose to utilise that space by siting our arena there. We scraped off the top soil and created bunds around the edge of the arena. Then shipped in a gazillion tonnes of rubble so basically build the arena on top of the ground rather than dig down into the ground. Must have been about 2ft above the ground when finished. We didn't use a single drain, but as it was above ground, it never ever flooded.

 

[milliepops]

hmm tricky one. as MW says you can always build up on a wetter area. plus depending on your surface, naturally very dry can mean you need to water a surface in dry spells.
are you getting a company in or doing it yourself? i'd ask the experts I think.

 

[smolmaus]

Obligatory Engineers Opinion: Drainage is not something to guess at, this is a question for a professional outfit! Both sites should have a proper thought-out drainage system so either way water will be purposefully directed somewhere, including the groundwater flow that will be disrupted by your arena at site A as it flows towards the water course. That's something that will need to be checked with your local environmental agency.

Whether the site is level or not might not be a huge difference, you'll probably need to remove a decent amount of topsoil on either of them either to level it or get a decent bearing surface. Site A, as it's close to a stream will probably have a build up of soft, silty boggy rubbish that would need to be removed before you put anything there anyway.

When I built a yard some years ago now, we had a boggy and fairly useless corner of the field, right by the stables and next to a brook. We chose to utilise that space by siting our arena there. We scraped off the top soil and created bunds around the edge of the arena. Then shipped in a gazillion tonnes of rubble so basically build the arena on top of the ground rather than dig down into the ground. Must have been about 2ft above the ground when finished. We didn't use a single drain, but as it was above ground, it never ever flooded.

Hope you found a cheap source of fill, yikes! ? But that's a good illustration of letting the existing groundwater flow stay relatively undisturbed as it goes to the stream. If you'd sunk the arena that 2ft to get a similar finished level you'd probably find water building up on the outside of that bund.

These guys actually give a decent summary of the "ideal" scenario. Sexy drainage considerations.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

You perhaps need to call your local council planning department, to ask them where you are most likely to get planning permission. You may well be considering a part of your land where you wouldn’t get planning anyway.

 

[Ranyhyn]

You perhaps need to call your local council planning department, to ask them where you are most likely to get planning permission. You may well be considering a part of your land where you wouldn’t get planning anyway.

Good point, both of the sites sit within the LDP boundary but worth asking the question as to which one will pose less of a problem.

I will be getting a company to do it for me perhaps apart from the fencing - thanks all x