How to level backyard for playground?

[mfaizi]

 

Hi guys again

Its been a tedious and expensive journey for our “dream house. From dodgy carpenters losing 40k on “materials order” and not showing up and disappearing- to finding hidden expensive flaws in our property.
We have finally reached the fun time for the garden and our kids to reap in the benefits of our anguish.

I purchased a lifespan swing set but wanted a level ground rather than a 20 deg slope, after finally getting rid of the AWTS and trying to level with topsoil i figured it would be an impossible exercise without some sort of retaining solution

using the colorbond fence as a guide for the degree of slope, what suggestions would say is suitable for making our kids dream a reality?

options are:

1) level as is and put on top

2) sleepers around and level and recycled rubber or turf

If there are more suitable options or more practical solutions please advise.

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @mfaizi 

You could  use a  landscaping technique of cut and fill. This will save you money having to buy  dirt to fill a one ended retaining wall.

Say we have a 20 meter  playground you wanted for the top of the hill to the lower part.

Now draw a line at the middle of the 20 meter mark this is your new play ground level.

Now take all the dirt from the top section of the  area and level it flat to match the level at the middle.

Now put all that cutting soil into the bottom half  so it also should now be level with the middle assuming the hill is a  uniform slope.

You will need to  put a mini retaining wall at the top cut as there will be a drop off and the bottom will need a  raise mini wall made out of  many materials.  The top area may need a slight slope still built in to allow rain water out with out plumbing in drains.

Brick , sleepers landscape blocks Treated pine  Sleepers.

The longer the cut the higher the retaining walls will need to be.

[mfaizi]

hi @Jewelleryrescue,

thank you for the detailed response.

i did look into cut and fill but have no idea in measuring gradients. 
is there a resource or technique that you can direct me towards to allow me to calculate the gradient?

Visually, i can see the left and back side are the higher ends of the slope and they both slope down to the right and front, in terms of cutting i would need to remove soil from the back and left and fill the front and right. The confusion is about how much soil needs to be removed and the placement of the retaining wall.

any information would be greatly appreciated 

Thank you in advance