Soak dike
Encyclopedia
The term Soak dike is used in The Fens
of eastern England
to mean a ditch or drain running parallel with an embankment, for the purpose of taking any water that soaks through from the river
or drain beyond the bank. In Lincolnshire
, sock dyke was formerly, a frequently found form of the expression.
In some parts of the world, the embankment would be called a levee
.
The soak is the ground water in the peat
or silt
of the fenland, though the term is often used to mean water table
.
In The Fens, water from the surrounding higher land is carried across the land which lies below high tide level, in embanked rivers. In this way, the need for pumping
is reduced. However, the banks are never completely waterproof so that even in an otherwise thoroughly drained fen
, the water table near the river bank would be high, reducing the value of the land and weakening the bank.
The leaky condition of the river embankments usually arose from a difficulty in finding good materials for their construction and from the piecemeal way in which the structures accumulated as the ground shrank or repairs were needed.
The difficulty is overcome by cutting a fairly small ditch, perhaps twenty or thirty metres from the bank, so that it collects the ground water and feeds it to a pump.
The Counter Drain in Deeping Fen is a good example, where the land between it and the bank of the River Glen was designed as a wash. In other words, the land between the river and the outer bank of the counter drain was originally intended to act as a reservoir in the event of an overflow from the river.
The Fens
The Fens, also known as the , are a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region....
of eastern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to mean a ditch or drain running parallel with an embankment, for the purpose of taking any water that soaks through from the river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
or drain beyond the bank. In Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, sock dyke was formerly, a frequently found form of the expression.
In some parts of the world, the embankment would be called a levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
.
The soak is the ground water in the peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
or silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
of the fenland, though the term is often used to mean water table
Water table
The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
.
In The Fens, water from the surrounding higher land is carried across the land which lies below high tide level, in embanked rivers. In this way, the need for pumping
Pumping
Pumping can refer to:*The operation of a pump, for moving a liquid from one location to another**The use of a breast pump or milking machine for extraction of milk*Gastric lavage The process of cleaning the contents of the stomach...
is reduced. However, the banks are never completely waterproof so that even in an otherwise thoroughly drained fen
Fen
A fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...
, the water table near the river bank would be high, reducing the value of the land and weakening the bank.
The leaky condition of the river embankments usually arose from a difficulty in finding good materials for their construction and from the piecemeal way in which the structures accumulated as the ground shrank or repairs were needed.
The difficulty is overcome by cutting a fairly small ditch, perhaps twenty or thirty metres from the bank, so that it collects the ground water and feeds it to a pump.
Counter drain
Counter drain is another term for much the same thing though in this case, it may have been designed also to deal with water overflowing the river bank. The counter drain would therefore need to be bigger than the soak dike. Counter drain has tended to supersede the other term, particularly in its use as a proper name.The Counter Drain in Deeping Fen is a good example, where the land between it and the bank of the River Glen was designed as a wash. In other words, the land between the river and the outer bank of the counter drain was originally intended to act as a reservoir in the event of an overflow from the river.