Sandy Drive project

[Tread70]

I could use a little help with my driveway/private road.

I have purchased a 5 ac. flag lot and own the road to which 2 neighbors have an easement. The road is what I can only describe as a beach. My road consists of the same type of sand like you would find on a beach. The road works great for a few days after it rains, but turns to fluff afterward.

My father may possibly be able to get a hold of some Sakrete from his previous employer. I found a .pdf file online that gives an equation to show how much portland cement to add to sand for strengthening my road. I know its not portland but if I add enough I would think it would hold up better than whats there. The bags hold 3000 lbs of Sakrete, a piece.

1. Has anyone ever used Sakrete or cement to ad structure to a very sandy road/drive or make a patio using this concept.

2. How do you think it would hold up under normal auto/pickup traffic?

3. How/What would be the best way to mix the mixture into the sand at say a 5-6" depth?

4. The potential bags my father would be able to get are in 3000 lbs. bags, what would be the easiest way to move /spread the concrete mix onto the road?

5. How would I be able to tamp/compact around 1000 ft of sandy road?

As usual, money is a concern, I have a Kubota b8200 with a 5ft scrape blade. My neighbor has a Mitsubishi 18hp tractor with a small FEL. I have access to a set of harrows and my neighbor has access to a 3pt. rototiller. The road is about a 1/4 mile but the main part is around 900-1000 ft of sand. If I can get enough Sakrete, I proposed to my neighbor that we can do my road first, then do his road. Labor is of no concern, but need some ideas on how to get this done and if you think it is feasible(will it work)?

I attached some pics of the drive. It doesn't look too bad now because it rained last night, but give a day or so and it will be like driving on a beach.

If you need more information, please let me know I will gladly take any and all advise.

Thanks in advance for any ideas,

Tread

 

[shinnlinger]

When you say Sakrete, I think of concrete mix, not cement, but is it cement? And is it really in 3000 lb bags? What does that look like? How do they move them?

Any way, what I might try is to do is spread it as evenly as possible. If they bags are really large and on a big flatbed , you can slit them and drive back and forth to until empty and then finish up spreading with your two tractors as best you can.

I would then roto till the cement into the sand. If it as soft as you say it is a walk behind tiller would work, but obviously the pto one would be better. Make sure you clean up the tiller good after.

I would then grade the road to what you want and then put a sprinkler on it for a bit and then roll it with a big roller. Renting a plate compactor or even a small "steam" roller probably won't be too bad.

Obviously you want to stay off the driveway for a few days after because you don't want permanent ruts.

 

[Tread70]

It is a mix, I believe, but has a mix of Portland, pebbles and sand. I have no clue how it is moved or what they look like, yet, I hope.

I rented a backhoe when we cleared the property, needless to say the backhoe delivery man got stuck and took us an hour or so to get him out. The septic tank truck got stuck as well and it took them over an hour to get the delivery truck out. The double wide I moved here was brought up the road with a dozer, otherwise.....he would have came to the same fate.

I am not sure if a flat bed would work in this sand as he would probably end up stuck as well.

Tread

 

[shinnlinger]

Unless they are giving you the concrete at an awesome price you might be better off buying straight cement as you already have the sand. I suppose a load of gravel gate spread wouldn't hurt, but it sounds like you have stuck issues so the your FEL's will get a workout. These 3000 lb bags sound crazy. You will have to break them apart at the entrance and spread them too I suppose.

 

[Tread70]

Free is always a good price, they usually give away the stuff that gets rejected for one reason or another, either it takes too long to cure or is too white, not white enough....

Tread

 

[shinnlinger]

Well if it is free and you can get it to your place easy enough and it isn't going to rain for a few days, go for it. Even if it breaks up and ruts it will still give you a better base than what you have now.

 

[EddieWalker]

3,000 punds of concrete isn't very much. Off the top of my head, I'd guess that a yard of concrete is going to weigh about that much, give or take a few hundered pounds. A yard will give you a 4 inch pad, 9 feet wide and 27 feet long. You can do the math and figure out how wide you want the road, but 4 inches is going to be the minimum for automotive traffic. You will also need rebar at least every two feet in a grid to hold it all together.

How far do you want to go?

Just mixing in the sacrete with the sand will do something, but I doubt it will be worth the expense or effort. If it isn't mixed properly and reinforced with rebar, it will crack, crumble and just fall apart on you.

Eddie

 

[Tread70]

Well I am hoping to get quite a few more than just 1 bag. If memory serves me it would take about 40 bags @ 3000 lbs each to give me a 12% mixof cement to sand. They used to use this method decades ago for airfields and some roads, supposedly still in use in some old communities. I need to get my laptop working so I can post the pdf file.

I do see what you mean about rebar, but with enough mixed in shouldn't it hold together for light traffic. 4 cars are all that would be using it with the occasional car or to if friends drop by, thats me and the main 1 neighbor that would be using the near full length of the road.

Any other cheap ideas?

Tread

 

[Tread70]

BTW Eddie, I love the lake project you did and have only read about the first 10-15 pages, I did peek at the end to see how it came out.

Tread

 

[dirt ditch]

Wow! Someone has a sandier road than I do. I feel sorry for you man.

May have to do a section at a time. Spread the mix out evenly over the road, then run a disc over it to mix it with the top few inches of sand. Hopefully vehicle travel will compact it into a hard surface, but it will take some time for that to happen. The best thing to do would be tons of rock but I can't afford that for my road either.

I filled a couple large mud holes in my drive with crushed concrete (set up cement that had been crushed back into small cement rocks and sand.) then bladed what was left over a short section of the road. For the first couple rains I did not think it was going to work, but when it dried out it got very hard, just from the compaction of normal vehicle travel. Water does not penetrate the surface very deep anymore. The worst part of it was the grime that got on our vehicles had to be hand washed off until it was packed in.

Let us know how it turns out.