The invention relates to a water course having an earth slope which is part of an earth body, wherein the water course is provided with an insertion for the end of a water discharge pipe draining in a water course and accommodated in the earth body. The invention furthemore relates to a method for placing the insertion in the earth slope of a water course.

Such water courses are also called ditch or waterway, but may also take the shape of broader waters, such as a lake. The water course is bounded by a natural slope, where vegetation may grow, such as grass, plants, shrubs or reed.

In the water course a water discharge pipe may debouch, protruding from the slope, in the profile of the water course. The water discharge pipe Is situated in the earth body, and supplies water originating from the earth body itself, for Instance a meadow having a clay substratum, from a cunette of a road, in which case there is question of a drainage pipe, or originating from another source, such as a septic tank or a precipitation collector.

The slope needs to be maintained, especially near ditches, in order to preserve the flow section. For that purpose the slope will be regularly mown, using a mowing bar extending downwardly inclined along the slope, and arranged on a tractor driving over the field along the slope.

As a result of the vegetation the driver of the tractor will not have a proper view on the elements protruding from the slope, such as water discharge pipes. It therefore often happens that the end portion of said pipe extending out of the slope is cut off by the mowing bar. The part of the pipe that is left behind in the ground may then get ruptured.

The vegetation may grow in front of the end of the pipe, as a result of which said end is difficult to see. The end of the pipe then cannot be found anymore. In case of drainage pipes, however, this will be necessary in order to be able to pass a hose for compressed water in said end for periodically flushing the drainage pipe in order to render the (filter) holes in the upstream portions of the drainage pipe free from soil material that may have penetrated in them or has been compressed in front of them.

Furthermore the vegetation may grow into the end opening of the pipe, and through the rupture in the water discharge pipe into the pipe. The flow passage in the pipe is thus made smaller and may even get closed off, as a result of which the discharging capacity of the pipe is reduced, possibly to none.

In the past some suggestions were made to place an insertion in a slope of a water course, however, placing them requires quite a lot of effort. A proper drainage is not always ensured either.

From British patent application 2.103.675 a tray of glass fibre reinforced concrete is known, intended as outfall tray for an outfall pipe in a slope of a ditch. Around the opening the tray is provided with a circumferential flange, and at the upper side with a loop of rope or something similar, which duping moulding has been embedded in the concrete. For anchorage of the tray an anchor line, for instance rope, is attached to the loop. The other end of the anchor line is attached to an anchor placed earlier in the ground by means of additional excavation, remote from the tray.

From European patent application 0.000.788, which discloses a water course according to the preamble of claim 1, an outflow tray of glass fibre reinforced cement is known, which tray has also been provided with a flange extending around the opening. At the upper side a bracket is attached to the tray. For anchorage of the tray into the ground, a band of polyester is dug into the ground, wherein the band extends in the ground over a distance necessary for anchorage.

In European patent application 0.175.369 it is noted that the tray arrangement just mentioned requires a lot of time. It is suggested to accommodate gutters in the slope, which extend from the drainage pipe to slightly below water level.

It is an object of the invention to provide an insertion that is able to improve on this.

It is an object of the invention to provide an insertion of the type mentioned in the preamble that is easy to place.

It is an object of the invention to provide an insertion of the type mentioned in the preamble that has a simple structure and nonetheless can reliably be accommodated in the slope.

According to one aspect, for achieving at least one of said objects, the invention provides a water course provided with an insertion as described in claim 1. The ground anchor plate that extends substantially vertically from the lower side of the insertion may for instance be a plate that is part of the insertion. Thus simultaneously with placing the insertion the necessary anchorage provision, for keeping the insertion in its place in the earth body while in use, is provided at the same time and additional actions for accommodating anchorage strands and such additional aids in the earth body need not be performed. The tray can easily and quickly be placed in the slope, after a recess has been made in there using for instance an excavator that is able to ride on the earth body.

In an advantageous embodiment thereof, wherein the tray has an opening that is intended to be located in or near the plane of the slope, the tray has a ground retaining wall that is concave in a vertical plane of cross-section transverse to the opening, wherein the concave wall comprises a rear wall and a bottom wall that smoothly merge into each other or connect to each other at an angle (for instance in a buckle shape), wherein the tray at the convex outer side of the tray is provided with a downwardly extending anchoring plate.

When lowering the insertion in a recess made for that purpose in the slope, it will be possible to accommodate the anchoring plate into the ground in one motion.

In an embodiment that is simple as regards construction the downwardly extending anchoring plate forms an extension of the rear wall, it particularly is situated in one plane therewith. The strength of the ground anchor is also improved in this way.

The length of projection of the anchoring plate preferably is at least approximately the height of the rear wall. Described in another way, in case a transition between rear wall and bottom wall cannot be clearly perceived, the said length is at least approximately the height of the portion of the concave wall between the upper edge and the location of origin of the anchoring plate.

When the tray is provided with side walls, and the anchoring plate, considered in a horizontal direction transverse to the side walls, is situated parallel to the water course, within the space between the planes of the side walls, the side walls define the width of the tray and the recess in the slope can remain limited as regards width. Furthermore soil hardly needs to be filled up adjacent to the side walls, if at all.

The pipe preferably extends fittingly through the passage. The end portion of the water discharge pipe is thus kept vertically in its place.

The insertion may be provided with a flange intended to be located near the slope surface.

Placement is facilitated when at their edges the side walls are provided with flanges extending sidewards and outwards, wherein moreover connection to the slope is enhanced. The side flange may form a flow-down surface for rain water fallen adjacent to the insertion and which passes soil particles of the slope surface along with it, in which way it is counteracted that said sediment-containing, polluted water ends up in the niche.

Placement of the insertion into the slope is further enhanced when the said concave wall is provided with an upper edge and a lower edge, wherein the upper edge is provided with a flange, wherein, preferably, the lower edge has no flange or the side flange or side flanges end freely at the level of the lower edge.

The flange at the edge of the side wall and the flange at the upper edge of the concave wall can be situated in one plane with each other and connect to each other.

Preventing damage to the water discharge pipe as a result of mowing need not be adversely affected when the bottom wall can be penetrated by vegetation. One can opt for giving the slope an as natural look as possible. When the location of the water discharge pipe should be found quickly, however, particularly in view of flushing, it is preferable that the concave wall, particularly the bottom wall, cannot be penetrated by vegetation, such as for instance high density polyethene.

The insertion can be made by means of a moulding process, such as vacuum moulding or injection moulding, particularly of high density polyethene.

Alternatively for smaller batches of insertions, the insertion can be assembled from a number of plates that are attached to each other, for instance by gluing or welding, wherein the plates are particularly made of high density polyethene.

The insertion preferably is shape-retaining.

The water discharge pipe remains within the profile of the slope, so that a mowing bar following the slope will not touch the end portion of the pipe and the end portion of the pipe remains intact.

Preferably the end portion of the water discharge pipe extends with a length into the niche so that the end is easy to perceive for insertion of a flushing hose. It is furthermore made certain in that way, that the end of the water discharge pipe remains within the niche, also when the pipe as a result of settings in the earth body is pulled slightly back into the earth body.

In one embodiment the passage has a centre line that is situated in a vertical plane that is substantially transverse to the water course. In an alternative embodiment the passage has a centre line that has a directional component that is substantially parallel to the water course or the slope, in horizontal direction alongside it.

When the insertion comprises a bottom wall that extends up to the slope the bottom of the niche is protected against washing out by water flowing out of the water discharge pipe. The discharge is enhanced when the bottom wall is substantially horizontal or slopes down towards the water course.

For ease of placement and/or counteracting pollution of the tray it is provided with a flange that is situated in or near the slope surface.

Instead of or in addition to the concave wall a side wall of the insertion may be provided with a passage for a pipe, so that also end portions of drainage pipes extending parallel to the water course or the slope (in horizontal direction alongside it) can be connected.

Substantially in one plane with the slope will also mean that the end may extend slightly, for instance 1 cm, out of the slope surface, for instance when an insertion with flange has been placed on young grass sods on a slope. The flanges is then also situated within the transverse profile of the water course, yet due to the slight height of protrusion out of the slope not a hindrance to mowing bars.

According to a further aspect the invention provides a method for placing an insertion according to claim 14.

The invention will be elucidated on the basis of an exemplary embodiment shown in the attached drawings, in which:

• Figures 1A and 1B, show a cross-section according to plane M (figure1B) and a front view of an exemplary embodiment of an insertion according to the invention, respectively, and;
• Figure 2 shows the insertion of figures 1A and 1B in a condition in which it has been placed at a water course.

The insertion 1 of figures 1A and 1B is for instance made of synthetic material, particularly high density polyethene, HPE, by injection moulding. The insertion 1 comprises an upright rear wall 2 and a bottom wall 3, which together define a buckled concave wall. At the side edges of the rear wall 2 and the bottom wall 3 they merge into side walls 4 situated in upright planes, which side walls are substantially parallel in this example. The walls 2, 3 and 4 form a tray. From the upper edges of the side walls 4, flanges 7 project sidewards, which flanges are in one plane with a flange 6 tat connects to the upper edge 10 of the rear wall 2. The tower edge 8 is not provided with a flange. The side flanges 7 thus end freely at the bottom, in line with the lower edge 8. The flanges 6, 7 surround the opening 12 of the tray-shaped insertion at three sides. The vertical plane of cross-section M is transverse to the opening.

The rear wall 2 is provided with a hole 9 for passage of a water discharge pipe. Optionally one of the side walls 4 or both side walls 4 may be provided with a comparable hole 9'.

The rear wall 2 is downwardly lengthened in a downwardly extending plate 5, which may serve as ground anchor. The walls 2/5 and 3 are situated between the side walls 4, thus within the spatial contours defined by the side walls 4. The flanges 7 extend beyond them.

At the location of the lower edge 8 of bottom wall 3 the bottom wall 3 encloses an angle α with the upper edge 11 of the side walls 4 of less than 45 degrees, in this case for instance 30 degrees. The angle β between the rear wall 2 and the bottom wall 3 in this case is approximately 120 degrees. The width B of the insertion in this example is 0.6 m, having a width b1 of flange 7 of 0.10 m and a width b2 of the walls 2/5 and 3 of 0.4 m. The height H of the insertion 1 in this example is 0.7 m, measured parallel to the wall 2/5, wherein the height h1 of the flange 6 is 0.1 m, the height h2 of the rear wall 2, without extension plate 5, is 0.4 m and the height h3 of the plate 5 is 0.2 m. The diameter of the passage 9 in this example is for instance 82 mm, for a water discharge pipe designed as drainage pipe here and having a diameter of 8 cm. The thickness of the walls can be 10 mm.

The walls 2/5, 3 and 4 and flanges 6 and 7 may also be made of plate material and for assembly of the insertion 1 be glued or welded together.

The degree of downward projection of the wall 2/5 may differ, depending on the slope incline of the water course in question. The steeper the slope, the longer the projecting length, related to the height of the rear wall 2. The length of projection of the wall section. 5 will preferably be at least half the height of the rear wall. The wall section 5, may, considered in a downward direction parallel to said wall section, extend to below the lower edge 8.

Figure 2 shows a sand-containing earth body 20 having ground level 21 grown with grass. The earth body 20 is interrupted by a ditch 22, that is bounded by a bottom 24 and slopes 23. The slopes 23 are at an angle γ to the horizontal of approximately 60 degrees.

A drainage pipe 15 is accommodated in the earth body 20, which pipe supplies water that is received in the drainage pipe 15 elsewhere at some distance, for instance via drainage holes provided in the pipe 15.

Instead of letting the drainage pipe having end portion 16 extend out of the slope 23 with end 17, and therefore in the profile of the ditch 22, in one embodiment according to the invention first a recess is made in the slope 23 using a dipper extending from ground level 21, the recess having a width of approximately 0.4 m, corresponding with a common width of a small excavator bucket of a dipper, see, digging line S.

Subsequently the insertion 1 is placed in the recess, wherein the flange-less lower edge 8 comes to support on the bottom at the location of k. There a tilting point is formed for the insertion 1, that can be tilted about it in the direction Q until in the recess. The side walls 4 move just along the side planes of the recess and the plate 5 is pressed into the ground in the tilting motion and the earth abuts the wall 3. Then the end portion 16 of the drainage pipe 15 laid in a trench is inserted through the hole 9, after which said end portion is supported by the hole edge and with end 17 is receded a few cm with respect to the plane in which the flanges 6, 7 are situated and receded a few cm with respect to the slope. Then the soil behind the insertion 1 and in the trench is further filled up to ground level. The drainage pipe has a diameter of 8 cm and fits such into the hole 9 that passage of soil through the hole is counteracted. Optionally a sealing means such as tape can be used. The flanges 6 and 7 are situated flat on the slope 23, tightly against it. In case of young grass sods on the slope the flange may press against the grass, and the flanges will therefore project slightly from the slope surface. In case of older vegetation it will be removed and the flanges 6, 7 come to lie slightly recessed in the slope.

The insertion 1 then bounds a niche N in the slope 23, in its entirety, wherein the rear wall 2 retains soil material and the side walls 4 do the same in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The plate 5 functions here as ground anchor against a movement of the insertion 1 towards the water course 22.

Water that flows via the drainage pipe 15 in the direction C at a high flow rate is discharged in the direction D to the water course 22. At a low flow rate there will rather be more question of seeping, wherein the water falls in the direction E on the downwardly sloping bottom wall 3, and flows down along it in the direction F, depending on the water level. The water in the water course is discharged in direction G.

Water flowing down over the upper part of the of the slope 23, direction H, is guided by the flanges 6 and 7 up into the niche N or along the flanges 7. In that case it is counteracted that water ends up between the wall 2 and the side walls 4 and the earth body 20. The plate 5 also ensures an extension of a leakage path.

When the slope is mown, the mowing bar will move over the flanges 6 and 7 and not touch the end 17 of the drainage pipe 15. The end portion 16 of the drainage pipe 15 is easily recognizable and easily reachable for inserting a flushing hose therein.

The above description is included to illustrate the operation of preferred embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention. Starting from the above explanation many variations of the present invention will be evident to an expert, provided they fall within the scope of the annexed claims.