Need Advice on Building Road

[Wingsy]

I've read all I could find on gravel road building here and it's been a tremendous help. But before I actually get started I want to ask for any advice you all can give me about my particular situation. I want to do this project myself -- well, other than hauling in the gravel that is.

First, the pictures.

This is the first part of the road up on the hill.


2nd part of the upper roadway, looking back towards the 1st part. This upper part is around 300 feet.


And this is the lower area at the bottom of the hill. All that enclosed within the red line is the target area.

The soil is sand rock. Pretty poor soil for anything in my opinion. My main questions are how much, if any, topsoil should I remove before the gravel trucks arrive? What kind of gravel? How deep?

I don't care all that much about this lasting forever, and the traffic on it will be a pickup, car, and my tractor, and not very often. I have a box blade that I'm just now learning to use so I should be able to maintain it without too much effort. I don't really want the roadway to be much higher than the surrounding ground, especially for the 1st picture of the upper part because some day it will become part of the paved driveway to my house that isn't built yet. I want to be able to cross it with a riding mower without scraping the underside as I go over it. Oh, and I think I don't want crusher-run. From what I've seen that stuff tracks into everything (car, gazebo, building, house).

I appreciate any comments or suggestions you can give me.

 

[DKCDKC]

Fabric is good if you can afford it. Do take off all topsoil and enough so that the gravel will leave just a gentle rise. If you have gravel below the surrounding soil it will become a drainage ditch. I'd put in a few inches of large stone, 2" or so, then a thin layer of regular driveway gravel and top it with crusher run. I have crusher run on all my drives and the home parking lot. As Brin says, once it has settled in you have no tracking issues at all. Done right your drive will require very little maintenance, and later be a great foundation for asphalt.

 

[DaveOmak]

Looking at the area you want to do, it appears it could be fairly wet.... I would scrape off all sod and roots (organic material) and lay down 6-8" of 3" minus.... drive on it to compact it into the soil until flat/level good road bed.... then add 3" of 1 1/2" minus and compact.... Fabric under the 3" minus would insure a long life road bed....
Anything less than properly done, you will be wasting time and money as the road bed will disappear into the soil..... Especially when you start building, and heavy trucks need that road to travel on....

Dave

 

[Ted Summey]

Your photos show what appears to be a firm base already. When it rains how soft does that area outside the garage doors get? It isn't rutted so it looks firm.

I wouldn't do much scraping or digging in your case. I would spray the vegetation then gravel over what you have outlined in red. I would use crush and run to build the base and atfer that is packed well, top dress with #57 stone. Your situation is different than the other thread since your drive area appears to have been used for a long time. The other thread is about building a drive through a pasture.

Others will recommend different methods but I prefer to take advantage of what is already in place.

 

[DT86]

It seems like everyone is pretty much on the same page with each other!

So for the sake of being different I have to ask, is slate available in your area?

Over the winter I built a slate road thought part of the farm that's a little over a 1/2 mile long. I prepared the road bed by removing the topsoil and putting it into piles. Then we started cutting down some high spots and filling in some low spots.



The slate was cheaper than quarried stone, like $80 per load which included him bringing his dozer to pack it down! I was also able to trade truck loads of my topsoil for slate 1:1, and he loaded and hauled both!!


I did put fabric under the slate and once properly packed in, it is like concrete.

 

[Wingsy]

Looking at the area you want to do, it appears it could be fairly wet.... I would scrape off all sod and roots (organic material) and lay down 6-8" of 3" minus.... drive on it to compact it into the soil until flat/level good road bed.... then add 3" of 1 1/2" minus and compact.... Fabric under the 3" minus would insure a long life road bed....
Anything less than properly done, you will be wasting time and money as the road bed will disappear into the soil..... Especially when you start building, and heavy trucks need that road to travel on....

Dave

That's a substantial road! A lot more than what I had in mind. Almost all of it won't see heavy trucks, just my truck, car, tractor maybe once or twice a day on average. And the first part will eventually be given over to the guy who will pave it and the driveway, so I'm not going to worry too much about heavy trucks using that part before he paves it.

 

[Wingsy]

Your photos show what appears to be a firm base already. When it rains how soft does that area outside the garage doors get? It isn't rutted so it looks firm.

I wouldn't do much scraping or digging in your case. I would spray the vegetation then gravel over what you have outlined in red. I would use crush and run to build the base and atfer that is packed well, top dress with #57 stone. Your situation is different than the other thread since your drive area appears to have been used for a long time. The other thread is about building a drive through a pasture.

Others will recommend different methods but I prefer to take advantage of what is already in place.

Out in that flat area it does accumulate a little standing water in a small place or 2. After a rain it gets a bit mucky for the first inch or so. I think a good portion of that area was what was washed down the hill before the asphalt was put in. Before the asphalt it was a real mess after a heavy rain.

How much crusher-run would you think I need? And the #57 stone? Keep in mind it's not for heavy duty traffic. Oh, and the entire driving area has only been used for about a year.

 

[Wingsy]

I'd put in a few inches of large stone, 2" or so, then a thin layer of regular driveway gravel and top it with crusher run.

Gravel & crusher-run ... how much?

 

[Ted Summey]

Crusher run depth of 4 or 5 inches. Make sure it gets packed then top dress with 3 inches of #57 washed stone.

 

[Wingsy]

Crusher run depth of 4 or 5 inches. Make sure it gets packed then top dress with 3 inches of #57 washed stone.

Germanton, huh? I remember driving around that courthouse set right in the middle of the road there. Small world.