Grading Driveway upgrade work during brutal NY winter

[johnk]

Gravel,

You did great. The second number you gave me worked. The place in Orchard Park closed a year ago and they gave me a # in Syracuse. I called that and said they had a supplier in Rochester which is closer to me. He called the fabric Propex 2000. Gave me a price of $324.00 for a 12.5 X 432 foot roll... He said it should be layed over dirt not stone which means I would have to scrape all my stuff up first. Does that seem a good price or not???? Thanks again for the info..

 

[MotorSeven]

Hey, can i butt in? Can this fabric be used on a steep grade? I have a 3-400' section of my driveway that i'm guessing is at about a 35+degree angle. The dozer guy said to asphalt or concrete it, but it won't happen because it will be too darn expensive. Just wondering........

RD

 

[gravel13]

Sure you're welcome to butt in MotorSeven, this is a friendly thread . I'm not sure of the limitations for the geotextile fabrics. It all depends on your situation, in your case the dozer operator suggested paving probably due to the steep grade because during a rain storm your gravel drive will wash fines ( and even larger aggregate under heavy rain). I believe Johnk and 450EXC have the problem of the driveway not holding up, it has probably been sinking over the years due to a poor subgrade. I'm sure there is a geotextile fabric distributor in your area that you could talk with, but if you have a fairly good gravel base for your driveway there are products that you apply directly to the gravel, kind of like an oil and sand or stone or chip seal. It is a liquid polymer that is called dirtglue. It is used for dust suppression but can be used for dirt road maintenance. Try this link: DirtGlue: Soil Stabilization - Erosion Control - Dust Control They do have an industrial version that can be used for heavy equipment roads. I can try to talk to some of the contractors that I work with and see if they have ever worked with it. There might be a list of distributors on there website that you could call and I'm sure they would let you know if it is for you.

 

[gravel13]

Johnk, I'm not sure if that is high or not, $0.54 per squre yard doesn't seem to bad. It also depends if you need more than 1 roll. I'm not sure of distributors in your area but where I am just about all the contractors go through Harris. Try calling back and speak to a salesman and ask him if he could do a little better on the price. I know thats what some of the guys do here. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Good luck.

 

[johnk]

I'll probably be doing this in the spring. I will give him another call and do a little haggaling. I'm used to disappointment....!

 

[WSJ]

Mirafi geotextile fabric

Mirafi Construction Products - Innovative Geosynthetics

 

[williekioti]

450, didja break out the sled? I heard the Lake Effect machine was crankin' the last couple days out there. Big Moose got 19". Tug Hillers must be happy. We just got a dusting in my locale. I've got skis, snowshoes, snowmobiles and all sorts of winter things itching to be used.

Motorseven, I'd think with 35* slope the concern from your operator was the stone rolling down slope, slough off. Loose stone will never stay down, unless worked in & DirtGlue??? I like the sounds of that stuff, have to look into that. Water diversion is going to be a key part of your planning. Either decent crown in road bed or well spaced water bars(PITA to maintain) to shed water. Runoff, surface water is going to be your BIG enemy on a slope like that.

 

[450EXC]

Yep, It's officialy winter. The Polaris was out and lovin the snow. Accually we only got about 8". The hay fields were a blast but still pretty rough and rocky everwhere else. I love the change of seasons and switching from summer toys to winter toys.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Larry,
Nice job on the driveway, but I noticed there werent any KTM tracks in the dirt durring all that warm weather we had

 

[450EXC]

Hey Scott,

There were definitlly some tracks made but the Mrs has set some rules about trenching across the yard with a knobby. I like it better in the woods anyway.

Larry