The new 700ft driveway

[rogerius]

I've never seen anyone dig a flat trench and line it before gravel ,I'll bet it won't last a year with no way for water to run off it will turn into a mud pit , and why would you start laying the cloth on the flat section instead of the hill first ? I wouldn't have dug down at all instead I would have built up and added run off from the center with drainage trench on each side to carry water away from it ,The way it looks to me is the water will run into it and mud city here you come .I hope it works out for you .

Thanks for your toughs Grumpy Old Man. Reading here on the forum, most of the guys were saying to not use the fabric on the hill for couple of reasons: the track will pull it off when will go on the hill, the gravel will run down the hill on the fabric and the most important thing, the water will not stay on the hill so the soil will not get a chance to mix with the gravel. About the mud pit, yes, that is a valid point as long the driveway is not compact properly but, your suggestion to build up on the existing soil I'll not buying at all. That is a big mistake if the soil is not clay or something strong. A driveway without a solid base is a non sense and in order to create a good base is to remove all the organic material. About the trench, I'm planning to dig it maybe later when the time permit and only if really will be required.

 

[rogerius]

I am a little north of you and last fall paid $10.80 per tonne delivered. I am around 15 miles from Sutherland's Keppel Pit. How is your drainage on your land? I am in north Derby and have really rocky soil and but good drainage on my property.

Luremaker: I'm buying from a pit close to Markdale. The gravel type will be "Bank Pit Run" or sand with loose stones. The guy from the pit said the municipality is using this type to build the base for all the roads. Just wondering what kind of gravel did you get for $10.8.

 

[like2wheel]

I suggest you lift the geotextile and lay tons of crusher run gravel up to 3 inches above the grade dig runoff trenches compact it all then replace the geo material and another 4 inches of gravel compacted .

Wut?

I don't understand the theory here.
What good does the Geo fabric do sandwiched in the gravel?

 

[DeSite ASM]

All the geo fabric does is act like a blanket to disperse the weight and to keep the mud from pumping up through your gravel. If you have dug down to good footing you will be ok. I have build many logging roads through areas where the water table was close to the surface. Geo mat is amazing, when would put 18 inches of crowned fill over top of the mat and where hauling logs over it one week later. One thing to keep in mind is that your road grade needs to be 6 inches above the natural grade to allow the moisture to leach away from your road bed. You should also have a 2 inch crown on a 12 foot road

 

[Grumpy Old Man]

All the geo fabric does is act like a blanket to disperse the weight and to keep the mud from pumping up through your gravel. If you have dug down to good footing you will be ok. I have build many logging roads through areas where the water table was close to the surface. Geo mat is amazing, when would put 18 inches of crowned fill over top of the mat and where hauling logs over it one week later. One thing to keep in mind is that your road grade needs to be 6 inches above the natural grade to allow the moisture to leach away from your road bed. You should also have a 2 inch crown on a 12 foot road

pretty much what I'm saying you can't build a water/mudslide with no drainage and a low section seen at the curve at the bottom of your hill and expect it to stay in place , This is going to take a lot of work/ materials to repair and build a stable base with good drainage .Also all the topsoil you have piled on the side should be removed before you try to lay base materials or fabric ,The constant running of the loaded tractor would do worlds of good to get a "natural crown" and compaction started on the road , removing the "dirt pile" will help stop the natural water/mud slide you have next to the drive and by removing the fabric it won't be in the way while you trench both sides of the drive ,You don't have to have a "trench" so deep that it would be ugly but deep enough for the water to move away and not wash away your money ! You have 700 feet of hillside run off to deal with and digging a 12 inch deep trench and lining it will just turn it into a river . I have talked to dozens of people who do this everyday for a living and the drive I'm building on my property is 600 feet with 3 times the grade ,Multiple turns and directional water runoff And not 1 excavation company advised me to do it any other way than I have . water will find the lowest point to travel . Have you ever driven down a road with no crown or drainage on both sides ? this is a picture of the grade while I was working it 6 months ago ,I'm going out today and will post pictures of the finished drive .

 

[Luremaker]

Luremaker: I'm buying from a pit close to Markdale. The gravel type will be "Bank Pit Run" or sand with loose stones. The guy from the pit said the municipality is using this type to build the base for all the roads. Just wondering what kind of gravel did you get for $10.8.

I bought 2" crusher run with fines.

 

[rogerius]

Finally I've got the gravel base in place: 30 loads or 700 tones for 700ft of driveway and the 50'x50' barn site. It cost me so far $4200 (some extra for my neighbor with excavator). Using the box blade on this type of gravel wasn't a pleasure experience. The box blade was jumping over the big stones even with couple bricks on top of it but, after 2 days of work, I'm done. Next step is to rent a compactor and try to bring everything smooth level. I hope the 12000lbs roller packer will do the job. I never used one before so if you have any tips please let me know.

 

[wmonroe]

Nice job on spreading the stone. I didn't rent a roller when I did my driveway so I can't help you there but I do feel your pain on the cost, my 1000' drive used a lot of stone, I thought I'd never stop writing checks for stone.

 

[MacLawn]

The key word old Grump and DeSite is making is - crown - hep, ye must have a crown in middle of ye drive, and from pictures, yours looks like ye did it! Looks good.

 

[paulharvey]

The 6 ton roller should work fine, but I would roll all day long, at slow speed, with vibratory. Its not going to be fun. Assuming the roller is roughly 6 ft wide, I would make one pass to right of the crown, then a pass to the left of the crown, repeat allll dang day.

I am personally not famililiar with the material your using, but with all but graded gravel (#57/#67) you need to have some moisture in the material, but not saturated, in order to get it well packed.

If you start seeing water boobling out, or if your soil or rock is overly wet, avoid vibrating. That will bring the moisture up.

Whem its good and tight, the roller on vibrate will want to slide down the crown. If your still leaving roller marks, keep rolling.