budepps3760
Silver Member
I did a search for a previous topic of clay road versus gravel road but did not find any discussing this specific issue. I am currently getting my land cut of timber and will start building our retirement house next year on our land. I have use of an easement road for half a mile before I get to my property line. Half is red clay and half is large gravel. Originally I had use of the entire clay road but new neighbors did not want me to drive close to where their children will be building their future houses so they created a detour of large size gravel the size of your fist for about 1/5 of a mile to my line. The clay road is much smoother to travel and I am thinking about going back and laying a layer of red clay on top of the gravel base once the logging trucks have finished hauling. This road will be continued in the future for logging use of no more frequency of once every 10 years.
I will need to build a road to my home site of unknown length. I will survey the potential sites once cutting is finished looking at possible road locations on high ground, low spots for culverts and scenic locations to build. The previous red clay road mentioned was used by my parents since the mid 60's and held up very well especially since very little maintenance was ever done on it. At that time however we seldom used the road due to the property's distant location from our house. So I can't really say that the clay road was wonderful because of such little use. My question is which material makes the best road or does a combination work best when considering price, maintenance and longevity. I will be paying for a dozer to come in and clear stumps, lay down road material, culverts and grade and also to prepare home site area. I just want to do it right the first time. Setting aside $10,000 hoping that will be enough. I would appreciate any experiences you may have had in coming to this decision as well as maintenance thoughts.
I will need to build a road to my home site of unknown length. I will survey the potential sites once cutting is finished looking at possible road locations on high ground, low spots for culverts and scenic locations to build. The previous red clay road mentioned was used by my parents since the mid 60's and held up very well especially since very little maintenance was ever done on it. At that time however we seldom used the road due to the property's distant location from our house. So I can't really say that the clay road was wonderful because of such little use. My question is which material makes the best road or does a combination work best when considering price, maintenance and longevity. I will be paying for a dozer to come in and clear stumps, lay down road material, culverts and grade and also to prepare home site area. I just want to do it right the first time. Setting aside $10,000 hoping that will be enough. I would appreciate any experiences you may have had in coming to this decision as well as maintenance thoughts.