How to Slope a Trench

Digging a sloped trench is important when working with buried water or sewer pipe. You need the pipe to have a slope to allow gravity to move the water along so it doesn't back up the pipe. This is especially important when working on very flat ground with no natural slope to take advantage of when digging. Simple measurements and a few basic tools are all that is required to make a quick sloped trench.

Wooden stakes
Rubber mallet
Tape measure
String
Spade
Wheelbarrow
Marker stones

Instructions

- 1
  Hammer wooden stakes into the ground with a rubber mallet every 5 feet along the line where the trench is needed. Stretch a string line along the top of the stakes, tying a loop to the first, wrapping once around the next in the row and tied off in a loop again on the last.
- 2
  Cut and peel back the sod at the line for the trench to reach the soil below using a spade. Plan to make the trench three times as wide as the pipe you plan to place in the trench.
- 3
  Dig the trench to a depth of 8 inches along its full length and width as needed. Place the removed soil into a wheelbarrow for easy return to the trench at the end.
- 4
  Measure the total length of the trench and divide it into fifths. Place marker stones or stakes or at the junction between areas to designate the break.
- 5
  Determine which end of the trench will stay at the top of the slope. Move to the first of the markers and dig that entire section past the first, 2 inches deeper. Move to the next section and dig it 4 inches deeper, and continue this process until you reach the end of the line. At this point the final segment is 18 inches below the surface.
- 6
  Drag the end of a spade over the transition points between sections to smooth them slightly to reduce the step look of the lowering. This makes it easier for the trench pipe to lay flat when inserted.

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