I think it’s time to tell you about a product that is a bit of a secret in the marketplace.  It is one that I’ve been selling for years but have not written about until now.  It is simple, economical, sturdy and versatile.  I find myself recommending it more now that I have installed it a few times and have experienced the ease and speed that it can be assembled.  I’m speaking of EconoDrain, a patented concrete trench drain former system manufactured by MultiDrain Systems, of Barium Springs, North Carolina.

Two types of Poured-in-Place Trench Drains

First a little background on poured-in-place trench drain systems needs to be covered.  Poured-in-place concrete trench drains come in two flavors:

1)      Frame and Grate Systems (or Traditional Trench Drain systems) – which requires that the contractor build the trench form, usually from wood.

2)      Trench Drain Former System – In addition to a frame and grate, a former system utilizes a disposable, pre-sloped form (or mold) that is used to make the drain channel.

The end result of both systems can be similar.   Both trench drain types are used to build a concrete channel with an embedded metal frame that supports an engineered grating.  There are some differences, however, which are discussed below.

Traditional Frame and Grate System – I think of traditional poured-in-place trench drain systems, or frame and grate systems, as one that is purchased from a foundry.  What you are actually buying is some quantity of cast iron grates and some cast metal rails.  The rails are used for making a frame to cradle the grates.  Traditionally, trench drain grates made by a foundry in the US have been 2 foot in length.  The width of the grates will vary based on the flow requirements of the channel.  However, a historically popular grate width seen in the U.S. has been 12”.  The rails used to hold the grates are often 4 foot in length.

So, for example, if you were going to install a 16 foot long trench drain using this system, you’d first purchase 8 grates and 8 rails from an iron foundry.

Two common foundries that manufacture this product are Neenah Foundry and East Jordan Iron Works.  These companies make large gray iron and ductile iron castings used in roadways and sewers.  Other plumbing fixture foundries, such as Josam, Watts and Zurn, manufacture frame and grate systems which are geared more for interior uses, such as maintenance facilities and warehouses.  Though there are differences in the design of each of these products, there is a great deal of application overlap.  And, in the end, each product requires a channel form to be constructed out of wood.

The act of building a wooden channel form can be a daunting task to the novice.  The wooden form is constructed and suspended in an excavated trench.  The metal rails of the drain are attached in some manner to the wooden form.  Because the rails are designed with an anchoring system, once concrete is poured around the form the rails become imbedded in concrete.  The wooden form which forms the trench is removed once the concrete is dry.  If a sloped trench bottom is wanted, the form can be constructed to produce the effect, or a mortar layer can be applied afterwards to slope the trench bottom.  It all sounds difficult.  But, it can be done in time with a skilled tradesman.

Trench Former System – A trench former system is similar to the traditional frame and grate product in-so-far that you are supplied a frame and grate.  However, with this type of system, you are also given a disposable, pre-sloped form.  The forms are specifically designed to attach to the frame, making the whole “wooden box construction episode” obsolete.  The forms and frames are assembled quickly and suspended in the excavated area by use of rebar.  As the frame and form are pre-engineered to a specific width and depth, less design work needs to be done in the field and installations are significantly quicker.  Forms are pre-sloped and can have rounded bottoms to give the resulting concrete channel improved flow characteristics.

The three most popular Trench Forming Systems on the market today are:

a)      EconoDrain (MultiDrain Systems) which uses an EPS mold to make round or flat bottom, pre-sloped channels that range in width from 4 inches to 24 inches.  The frame design allows the trench installation to be done with one concrete pouring event.

b)      Trench Former (ABT, Inc.) which also uses an EPS mold, offers channels that range in width between 6 and 24 inches.  Like EconoDrain, they have a patented framing system.  However, for proper installation of the Trench Former System, two concrete pours are required.

c)      FastForm (ACO) which uses a cardboard molding material to form the 12” and 24” wide channels.   Form assembly is required.

EconoDrain – The Most Versatile Trench Drain Former Product

Of the products discussed above, no one has a product that is as versatile, easy to install or cost effective as EconoDrain.  EconoDrain has a patented frame and channel forming system that eliminates the time and materials required in building a traditional formed-in-place trench drain.  The frames, which come in 8 foot lengths, have specially designed anchor stand shoulders that accepts #4 or #5 rebar.  This rebar is the supporting member that suspends the frame and EPS foam in the trench where the concrete channel is to be formed.

Attached to the underside of the frame is a lightweight, pre-sloped form.  Where traditional forms are made of wood, the Econodrain form is made of expanded polystyrene (EPS).  This form is designed with a locking collar which holds the form in the frame during installation.  The center wedge, designed with “ears”, is easily removed after the pouring and setting of the concrete, allowing the remainder of the form to collapse and be removed from the channel.  Thereafter, grates can be placed into the frame.  Locking devices are also available to help secure the grates in place.

The EconoDrain former system can be made with painted steel, galvanized steel, stainless steel or aluminum frames.  The most common grating options are ductile iron slotted grates and bar grating.  However, with the help of a company called Trench Drain Systems (www.trenchdrain.biz), custom trench drain can be designed to meet your needs.  Custom stainless steel grates, decorative cast iron grates and custom polymer concrete grating (Jonite Grates) have been used with Econodrain.  Recently, MultiDrain and Trench Drain Systems have developed a pre-sloped, radius channel drain using custom forms made by EconoDrain.  These channels are used to make curved drains that can be used in running tracks, pools, driveways and fountains.  They utilize custom cast iron radius grating that cover curvatures that range from 3 feet to 55 feet in radius.  No other product or manufacturer can offer this degree of versatility in a poured-in-place trench drain system that can be achieved with Econodrain.

EconoDrain Installation Example

I recently installed a concrete former system trench drain in a home owner’s driveway.  Usually, in residential driveway trench drains, I recommend a 4 inch wide polymer concrete trench system (such as Polycast 600).  In this situation, however, a “river” of water was flowing down the driveway with a force that was moving yard structures.  A wider, more industrial trench system was required to divert the water.  We decided on using an 8 inch wide, poured-in-place concrete trench drain with a 10 inch wide grate containing a high percentage of open space.

We decided to place the drain at the bottom of the drive along the area we have marked with the measuring tape (see right).  We decided to direct the water to a cobble stone lined creek to the left, just behind the flowers.  The asphalt driveway was cut using a walk behind concrete saw.  The asphalt topping and soil was removed to a depth that allowed us to have 6 inches of concrete all around our form.  The drain frame and form was set in the excavation using #4 rebar.  I never took photos of these steps because I was busy getting the drain set.  The concrete truck was scheduled to be there soon!!

The photo to the right shows the drain just after we had placed the concrete.  We made a box to form a square end to the outlet end of the drain.  At this location, we connected a piece of corrugated pipe which ran below the surface of the cobble stone creek.  We let the concrete set overnight and removed the form the next day.  To remove the form, we had to first cut the metal support bars that hold the metal rails to their dimension.  For this we used a small angle grinder.  The EPS form actually seats around these bars during installation helping to hold the form in the frame.

Once the support bars were freed, a center wedge section of the form was removed, allowing us to pinch and collapse the remainder of the mold away from the new concrete channel wall.  The mold separated easily from the concrete because we had used a mold release agent on the form prior to pouring concrete.  After the EPS forms were removed, we cleaned the excess concrete from the metal rails with a scraping device and then swept the remaining dirt out of the drain.  The only thing left was to install the grates and bolt them into place (See below).

For more information on the EconoDrain trench forming system and how a system can be designed for your application, contain Trench Drain Systems (TDS) by calling 610-638-1221 or by emailing your request to sales@trenchdrain.biz.

It was a Sunday afternoon in October, 2009.  The sky was vibrant, the wind gentle after a chilly morning, and the sound of lapping waves was soft in my ears.  Autumn showed in the emerging rainbow of trees surrounding Walden Pond.

The pond could hardly be considered a pond by its size, a hearty 61 square acres.  However, as I stepped out onto its sandy shore all I could think about was Henry David Thoreau paddling his canoe across its great expanse – that and the trench drain I’d spotted on the way into the reservation.

I could hardly believe that I’d seen it on my journey, but then again I always seem to spot trench drain wherever I go.  It lay across the paved service road that acts as an entrance point to the most famous landmark in American philosophy.

The trench drain was pretty wide and for good reason.  Though you can’t see it well (thanks to my stellar photography skills), the drain cuts across a stretching hill.  On the left side of the picture is the drive, which provides an excellent route for vehicle access as well as a clear path for the flowing water coming directly off the road above; to the right in the picture, water also flows down the small hill and runs across the path.

The Walden Pond State Reservation tries to eliminate erosion and preserve the original nature of the park by a number of methods:  this trench drain is just one of them.

Take a closer look:

An interesting part of this grate is that it has transversely slotted grates.  This is a key point in ADA Compliant grates, which require slots to be safe for wheelchair access.  The slots are placed perpendicular to the direction of travel so that wheelchairs, bicycles and strollers are able to travel safely.

Though I could find no markers on the drain, I can state with certainty this it is a grate typically sold through a foundry.  How can I presume that?  For one thing, foundries generally provide only frame-and-grate systems which require concrete construction and in-situ forming of a trench.  That is exactly the case shown above.  And, on another note, the iron grates were “raw” – or without a surface finish.  While trench drain manufacturers might epoxy or powder coat the grates, many foundries leave them in an uncoated or raw state.

The day was full of spectacular sights!  A few pictures of the landscape…

Now, the real purpose of my visit to Walden Pond was because of the philosophical history of the site.  Thoreau’s book, “Walden,” couldn’t help but make nature seem beautiful on paper; I wanted to compare the real site to his words and see whether they measured up.  Also, I admired his experiment into naturalism and wished to see his muse so that I could understand why he had devoted his time in such a way.

Perhaps the answer I went looking for could best be summed up with the following picture, which I took at the old site of his cabin:

I had a wonderful time at Walden Pond last year.  It was breathtakingly beautiful!  Though I meandered about the trails, I never did accomplish the mile-plus circuit around the pond.  Even without walking the full trail, I was happy to simply be there… and to find trench drain at work, preserving the famous landscape.