Steep driveway in need of some kind of guardrail - need help

[Code54]

The driveway is long and steep (the hills of WV) and in need of some type of "guard rail". The challenge is the one side has a lot of fill and a fairly high steep drop off. There is room to move in 3-4 feet from the "ledge" to get into a bit more solid dirt but it is still some fill over a more solid base. The main purpose is not to stop a car slamming into it head on at a high rate of speed but more to deflect the car back into the driveway and not shoot over the edge if it got sliding on snow or ice in the winter.

Some ideas are:

6x6 posts sunk about 3' deep with some concrete around them -with 1 or 2 2x10 between them (can be put together so it is a "4x10)

4x6 posts sunk about 3' deep with concrete around them -with 1 or 2 2x10 between them (can be put together so it is a "4x10)

Some other type of posts????

thinking about running 2x10' from post to post to add a little strength and to make it look more like a "fence." The ascetics are important and thus the reason regular guard rail is really not an option. Another idea is running a cable through the posts to help tie them together and anchor them to the ground somehow.

How far should the posts be apart for these ideas, any better ideas. Anything you all can think of that needs factored in?

The normal vehicles on the drive will be full size pickups and smaller so that is what it will need to stop/deflect.

Any idea what size posts wooden guard rails used along roads are? How deep are they normally set?

The other challenging factor is money is a big factor and the goal is to do the all the work with out hiring it out or having a lot of specialized equipment but a tractor/posthole digger is available.

Thanks!!!!

 

[timster2]

This weekend home depot has a sale on pressure treated landscape ties less than a buck. Perhaps enough of them set with a post hole digger could make a nice guard rail. The price is right for sure.

 

[Deere Dude]

The driveway is long and steep (the hills of WV) and in need of some type of "guard rail". The challenge is the one side has a lot of fill and a fairly high steep drop off. There is room to move in 3-4 feet from the "ledge" to get into a bit more solid dirt but it is still some fill over a more solid base. The main purpose is not to stop a car slamming into it head on at a high rate of speed but more to deflect the car back into the driveway and not shoot over the edge if it got sliding on snow or ice in the winter.

Some ideas are:

6x6 posts sunk about 3' deep with some concrete around them -with 1 or 2 2x10 between them (can be put together so it is a "4x10)

4x6 posts sunk about 3' deep with concrete around them -with 1 or 2 2x10 between them (can be put together so it is a "4x10)

Some other type of posts????

thinking about running 2x10' from post to post to add a little strength and to make it look more like a "fence." The ascetics are important and thus the reason regular guard rail is really not an option. Another idea is running a cable through the posts to help tie them together and anchor them to the ground somehow.

How far should the posts be apart for these ideas, any better ideas. Anything you all can think of that needs factored in?

The normal vehicles on the drive will be full size pickups and smaller so that is what it will need to stop/deflect.

Any idea what size posts wooden guard rails used along roads are? How deep are they normally set?

The other challenging factor is money is a big factor and the goal is to do the all the work with out hiring it out or having a lot of specialized equipment but a tractor/posthole digger is available.

Thanks!!!!

How steep is the drop off, just out of curiosity. That may help us decide on advise.
In Wisconsin, I see a lot of 6x6s buried like yo8 suggested with a couple 1/2 or 5/8 cables strung through them. Anchor them very good at each end and you won't go through that. That would help tie them all together. Cover the cables with 2x10s if you don't like the looks of that. A think a cable would keep a car on the road a lot better that a 2x10.

 

[rekees4300]

How to Build a Cheap Guardrail for Your Driveway

 

[bcp]

Used ones here, showing sizes.

Used Guardrail Components

 

[Code54]

It is about 40 or so feet down- rough guess. Far enough that it is going to leave a mark!
Thanks for the ideas - the more the better. Also any photos you have something you have built would be great !

 

[DKCDKC]

My driveway is long ( a mile ) and goes up or down two steep hills, in both cases the road was cut from the side of the hill and consequently has a steep fall-off on the downhill side. In a Virginia mountain winter, we can get ice and frozen snow that makes vehicles into sleds. I worry more about sliding off the road on the ice - since there are also curves on these hills - than about simply driving off. The road is through a thick forest so, if you go off, you will total the vehicle, but probably not go far enough to hurt passengers.

But I'd just as soon stay on the road. What I have done is grab some substantive trees lost to construction of the road, later timbering, and storms. I cut our 20 to 40 foot logs, with limb stumps protruding, then lay them along the downhill side of the road, making sure the body of the log rests on the ground. In some places trees back up the logs. In others I have driven 3" to 4" locust trunks - sharpened at one end - into the ground to back up the log. I don't need a ton because the winter ice will freeze the log solid.

This means that I have a 12" or higher barrier beside the road when ice appears. Since I come down these hills very slowly in icy conditions, the barrier is more than enough to bump the vehicle back into the road safely.

In 12 years - with usually a few ice storms each year - I have slid as far as 140 feet - rarely coming near the log barrier. But when I do, it bounces me back gently.

Of course, I have also learned to remove snow as soon as possible, tear up ice with a box blade teeth, and put chains on all my vehicles.

 

[CurlyDave]

I would tend to think along the lines of the used guardrails shown, or the temporary highway dividers some construction sites use. I don't know how expensive the temporary highway dividers are, but they have the great advantage of just sitting on the road surface and do not require posts. There are usually iron loops cast into the ends, and they are pinned together to increase strength.

 

[Ken45101]

In my experience, the some of pressure treated landscape timbers do NOT last very long in ground contact. We had some that rotted out entirely in 5 years. Besides, that, they are relatively small and not as strong as a bigger diameter post.

Ken

 

[dex3361]

In my experience, the some of pressure treated landscape timbers do NOT last very long in ground contact. We had some that rotted out entirely in 5 years. Besides, that, they are relatively small and not as strong as a bigger diameter post.

Ken

I was going to mention this but you beat me to it.:thumbsup: