I ended up replacing a large amount of corrugated downspout drains with 4" PVC. Now I have mounds above the new pipes that have not gone down (they might have gone down some). I asked the contractor what to do and he insisted the freeze and thaw cycle here in Indiana will eventually take them down. He also said that this natural cycle will make sure that the pipes have even compaction around them. Is this common knowledge? Attached is a picture of some of it, it is actually between 6 to 12" high and very unattractive.

My inclination is to get a tamper or roller and get them closer to ground level, to get ready to work on my spring lawn.

 

There ain't much you can do about it while the ground is froze, so you might as well not worry about it until spring. At that time you can rent a compactor to go over the hump or rake the soil away to spread it out. If you haul the soil away too soon, you will have a dip there once it rains on it a few times.

 

It will eventually level out, when you dug it up you loosened the compacted dirt so it will just take a season to settle.

Watering the soil well will greatly speed up the process!

 

Winter is a bad time for that to settle. The repeated freeze thaw cycling is probably lifting the top several inches of soil keeping it fluffed-up. Once spring comes I bet you'll see more settling progress. I would just seed and mow over it without doing anything special.

 

Thank you to everybody for their ideas. I hear you. I will be patient and be ready to work in the spring if I don't see much progress.

Thanks Much.