---
title: "Block Driveway with Drainage Channel, Gloucester (2024) | Solid Ground Paving"
description: "Case study: a Gloucester block paved driveway with a charcoal drainage channel and double soldier course managing surface water to the kerb line."
canonical: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/projects/block-paving-drainage-channel-gloucester
url: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/projects/block-paving-drainage-channel-gloucester.md
section: "Projects"
date_published: 2026-08-06
date_modified: 2026-08-06
author: Solid Ground Paving
robots: noindex
---

# Block driveway with a charcoal drainage channel

Every new hard surface has to deal with the water it stops soaking away. On this Gloucester driveway the answer was a charcoal channel set just below the field of blocks, running the full length of the drive and taking water away from the house before it can reach the threshold.

## Key facts

- **Town:** Gloucester
- **Year:** 2024
- **Surface:** Concrete block paving, herringbone
- **Detail:** Charcoal channel with double soldier course

## Why does a driveway need a drainage channel?

A paved driveway sheds rain that used to soak into open ground. Under UK planning rules that run-off has to be dealt with on the property, so a channel collects it along the low side and directs it to a soakaway or border rather than out onto the highway.

## What is a double soldier course for?

Two rows of blocks laid end-on frame the edge and give the channel a rigid shoulder. It stops the herringbone field creeping sideways under wheel loads and gives every cut block something solid to sit against.

- Edge restraint haunched in concrete below finished level
- Channel set marginally low so water finds it
- Contrasting charcoal blocks so the line reads deliberately

## Does the finished level matter at the kerb?

Yes. The drive is brought out to meet the existing footpath level without a lip, so there is no step for tyres and no ponding at the entrance. Getting that transition right is what stops a new drive looking bolted on.

## Questions and answers

Q: Will the charcoal blocks fade?
A: Concrete blocks lighten slightly in their first year as the surface weathers, then stay stable. The contrast with the buff field remains clear.

---

Human-readable version of this page: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/projects/block-paving-drainage-channel-gloucester


## Site records

- Video: Walking the finished run: charcoal channel and double soldier course set below the field of blocks so water is collected rather than shed onto the footpath.
  - Description: Walkthrough of a block paved Gloucester driveway with a charcoal drainage channel and double soldier course
  - File: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/__l5e/assets-v1/cd0139bd-2100-4931-b1a0-5392c912ec33/block-paving-drainage-channel.mp4 (poster: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/__l5e/assets-v1/43f5b9b6-aee4-45ff-851b-1918a0c2dd7c/block-paving-drainage-channel-poster.jpg)