Drainage Ditches - Eliminates Flooding Problems

Pretty boring topic eh? Oh well. I'm proud of how I eliminated the flooding problem in what will soon as the backyard with grass in future pics. The pic below is a trench I dug out by hand a few months ago. Extremely hard clay that probably took six hours with a regular shovel and patience to carve. The depth is about eight inches. I'm wondering how long it will last before it possibly caves in one side of the driveway. The trench was smaller when completed.

It has eliminated a huge amount of water run off that used to flow over the driveway and down the railroad tie steps and into the backyard. Now it allows the water to run into the woods on the north side of the cabin.

Most of the drainage problems were caused by the water running off the steep hill left of the ditch (which is all wooded running uphill about 50 yards). Another major cause was running directly down the driveway. This area was rutted with deep rain erosion damage before the driveway was excavated. By creating a small rock bern (red arrow) or knoll mound created with excess rock, the water now goes right or left off the driveway.

Another idea was the creation of some runoff areas up and down the driveway. These rocks won't be going anywhere as they're embedded about 10 inches into the ground and holding firm.

Only one problem area remains, but is minor for the time being. The flatter part of the driveway still collects rainfall that has to go somewhere. The earlier grading has it sloped to one corner which will eventually have a real drainage system and grate along a retaining wall. The wall will be constructed of concrete block over footings and covered with the same rock used on the cabin foundation wall.