Building Driveway/Parking Area (over disturbed soil)

[MMH]

I put up a pole barn/garage & had to do a lot of leveling & digging around. I'm finally at a point where I am beginning to start finishing the parking area in front of the garage & driveway and have some questions. Eventually I will put in concrete, but not for a while.

The parking area is 50'x40' & the driveway is 10' by 200'. The soil is ALL expansive clay (I am in western PA). The soil was very much disturbed throughout this process. In addition one corner of the parking area has been built up approximately 18". The driveway connects to the parking area in this corner and the built up
18" and tapers down to 0 over 100' of the driveway (going steeply downhill).

I have not compacted the built up area (or any area) yet. Will rent a 1-1/2 ton vibratory roller. I know that this only compacts 4" - 6" deep, so the built up area will not be properly compacted. I will put in french drains on both sides of the driveway. These french drains will start under the parking area and extend down the driveway. In addition, there will be french drains behind the parking area. The trenches for the french drains will be cut after compaction & will be filled w/ B3 gravel (1-1/2" to 3") flush with the compacted surface when finished. The final slope of parking area will be between 1/8" to1/4" per foot.

Eventually I will put in concrete on the parking area. For the time being, will dig 8" under the final grade so I have room for 4" of stone & 4" of concrete. I will initially put down 2" thick layer of B3 (1-1/2" to 3") gravel. Does this need to be compacted or will driving over it w/ full size pickups for two years do it? I will wait two years to let built up area settle before putting in concrete. Is there anything that I can do to accelerate this time? Before putting down concrete, I will put down an additional 2" thick layer of B3 bringing up total to 4" of gravel (although by that time the bottom 2" will have some dirt/clay in it - will this be a problem?).

Until the built up area settles (2 yrs. ?) can I temporarily finish the parking area by putting down a thin layer of fines/crushed concrete? If I do this,
will I just be able to add 2" inches of B3 when I put the concrete in later on or will I have to scrape the fines off?

I am new to all of this and would appreciate comments & suggestions!

 

[Buppies]

You should consider a single drum roller like a IR SD 70 for compaction of the sub grade and then compact the gravel. Then after time some settling may occur add more gravel then pour the concrete. The names of stone vary depending on region of country but where I am from V-DOT 1 then 57's should work well The V-DOT 1 is the size of a baseball

 

[MarkV]

Personally I think that your initial 2" layer of stone is not going to be near enough. My guess is that it will settle into the soil in no time leaving you a mess. We go closer to 6" when building a base.

MarkV

 

[yelbike]

You also consider a geo tek type heavy landscape fabric. Not the cheap felt stuff from home depot.....look for the better stuff the highway department uses, its woven much stronger. It helps to stabilize the ground. I Think one layer between the clay and the first layer of 3" would be the best approach.

 

[madmax12]

You also consider a geo tek type heavy landscape fabric. Not the cheap felt stuff from home depot.....look for the better stuff the highway department uses, its woven much stronger. It helps to stabilize the ground. I Think one layer between the clay and the first layer of 3" would be the best approach.

I don't know anything about how to build a driveway, but I've been trying to learn.

I'm in the early stages of planning a gravel driveway on what is currently lawn. My understanding, at this point, is dig for a 12" deep driveway. Remove all organic material, leaving a base of sand. The geotextile goes on that. Then, for a gravel driveway, 12" of gravel (I'm in Maine).

YouTube geotextile, some good videos.



Couple of sites I looked at for gravel, so far:

ochshornDesign - Jonathan Ochshorn, Architect - Driveway construction

(this one is concrete, actually)...
Monteray Shores Corolla NC Driveway | kennypiercesconcrete

Build A Gravel Driveway | Ask the Builder

Your Gravel Driveway Awaits, But Are You Prepared? — Gravel Driveway

https://www.google.com/search?q=gra...wHjvoHQDw&sqi=2&ved=0CGEQsAQ&biw=1150&bih=810

 

[boggen]

having good run off is a major thing....

making sure you have gutters on shed and house, and setup things so run off water from gutters does not go into the parking area and drive way is a major one.

but also just general sloping the entire parking area and driveway. so run off water does not go through it. but runs off and away from the area. if that means installing a ditch, so be it.

you really do not want water running down the driveway, but rather slop things so water runs off to the sides of the drive into a ditch. this will help prevent wash outs within the driveway itself.

puddles will be a big one. and getting things so they slope away to allow that run off water to get off the parking area vs setting there in the driveway and parking area. the better the entire parking area and driveway drians of water. less mud will happen.

 

[Ed of all trades]

When I put in my drive the loader dug out the grass on about 30' of a 100 yard long drive, and I have had more trouble with that 30' than all the rest. I can't see anything that would make that part different except he dug the grass out, about 4" deep. :2cents: next time for me it is gravel on the grass if i can.

 

[rswyan]

When I put in my drive the loader dug out the grass on about 30' of a 100 yard long drive, and I have had more trouble with that 30' than all the rest. I can't see anything that would make that part different except he dug the grass out, about 4" deep. :2cents: next time for me it is gravel on the grass if i can.

You are assuming that digging it out caused the problem (which may not be the case at all) .... when, in fact, it may have actually prevented it from being worse than it was ....

Look for the actual root cause of the problem (not enough organic material removed, etc.), rather than just an apparency ....

 

[rswyan]

When I put in my drive the loader dug out the grass on about 30' of a 100 yard long drive, and I have had more trouble with that 30' than all the rest. I can't see anything that would make that part different except he dug the grass out, about 4" deep. :2cents: next time for me it is gravel on the grass if i can.

You are assuming that digging it out caused the problem (which may not be the case at all) .... when, in fact, it may have actually prevented it from being worse than it was ....

Look for the actual root cause of the problem (not enough organic material removed, etc.), rather than just an apparency ....

 

[madmax12]

having good run off is a major thing....

making sure you have gutters on shed and house, and setup things so run off water from gutters does not go into the parking area and drive way is a major one.

but also just general sloping the entire parking area and driveway. so run off water does not go through it. but runs off and away from the area. if that means installing a ditch, so be it.

you really do not want water running down the driveway, but rather slop things so water runs off to the sides of the drive into a ditch. this will help prevent wash outs within the driveway itself.

puddles will be a big one. and getting things so they slope away to allow that run off water to get off the parking area vs setting there in the driveway and parking area. the better the entire parking area and driveway drians of water. less mud will happen.

Good suggestions, thx