Paving Private Rural Driveway

[Pettrix]

I am considering paving the private driveway to the home site. The road is currently cleared, graded, and useable but it is unpaved dirt with some spot of "AB" (about 1"-2"). The road is cleared 15 feet wide and is about 1,700 feet long. The home isn't built yet but I hope to pave the road after the home is built and after all heavy machinery is gone from the site. I am not a big fan of "dirt" roads because of the dust issues (Northern AZ) and constant upkeep after rains.

I was quoted a rough estimate of about $35k for an asphalt driveway that will be 3" thick and 10 feet wide by 1,700 feet long. The cost did NOT include the AB, which I was told I would need about 4"-6" thick, so that adds another $4k to the price.

1 - Is it possible to include the road paving costs into a new home construction loan?
2 - Is that bid reasonable or too high?
3 - Is 3" of asphalt OK for light car traffic?
4 - Is 10 feet wide a good width or should I go 12 feet wide?
5 - Is chipseal a better and cheaper alternative?

[EddieWalker]

3 inches is pretty good. Most driveways and light duty roads are only two inches thick. Ten feet width is perfect. Wider is just throughing money away. Be sure to compact the road base before they do anything. I've found that it takes a lot of water on it to get it to really lock together properly. If you just spread it and roll it without water, you might have issued depending on usage, soil conditions and how well it was compacted.

Most roads are priced per square foot. At $2 a square foot, I'm thinking that's pretty decent. It was half that ten years ago, and the cost of fuel and oil has trippled since then.

I don't know enough to reply to your other questions.

Eddie

[6sunset6]

Funny I just posted a question about my driveway Paved 16 years ago with 3.5 inches of Dense Binder.
Mine is on a clay subbase with a couple of feet of bankrun on it . Compacted for a couple of years by 18 wheelers hauling more bankrun. Its 11'3" wide and 600' long 10' would have been ok. Knowing what I know now I would have put down geotextile on the subbase maybe 15' wide and then maybe a foot of bankrun over that. IT will NEVER settle. The dense binder is rough on the surface but has held up to truck traffic for 16 years. I am thinking about 1" of top mix at some point. Not yet. The dense binder was put down over 3-4 inches of crushed stone. I think that was to get it level.

[SPIKER]

I would get a good base in there first and drive over it for a while. a NEW asphalt drive will not hold up all that well over time if the base is soft or even wet...

Mark

[s219]

Re: question #1, yes, it can be priced into the construction loan. We have a $14K asphalt driveway allowance in our building contract, which we may or may not use. But at least it's on the books under the construction loan if we want it. Our driveway is about 550 feet long.

I would suggest getting some initial road base down that can be compacted with construction traffic. You will be amazed how much a cement truck can mash everything down! May as well take advantage of that to get the base established.

[LarryD]

Have you considered crushed ashpalt? It is offered here buy some local pits (road grindings) and it will bind together over time, especially in Arizona. There is no dust issue. I had a friend put some down and he loved it. Application is important though because it will really bind and a box blade is pretty much worthless after a few years. Start with a good compacted base and get it rolled.

I had a 50/50 mix (asphalt w/ 5/8 dirty) topping put down on my drive this summer and I like the way it's holding up. This was after I watched a parking lot on the base with the same product perform very well, even with sailors using it.

[tractchores]

1 - Is it possible to include the road paving costs into a new home construction loan?
2 - Is that bid reasonable or too high?
3 - Is 3" of asphalt OK for light car traffic?
4 - Is 10 feet wide a good width or should I go 12 feet wide?
5 - Is chipseal a better and cheaper alternative?

I just did this, our road is probably a tad longer, but similar. It was previously paved, so we had to mill it in place and redo it due to rocks poking through. The cost was just over $40,000, which would be the same as if it had been being done newly assuming the roadbed was already made. It was 10' wide, similar in length to yours with a 4" base and 3" pavement. The previous version of it was done the same way and lasted well over 30 years through harsh winters in poor soil (wet & rocky) conditions. To answer your questions: I believe paving costs can be put in a construction loan (just like site improvements), Bid seems good, 3" is good - you can read online for various ratings and thickness, 10' is a good width, I would stick with asphalt VS other alternatives. I did asphalt millings (crushed asphalt, grindings) at a building I have and it was cheaper, but didn't work out particularly well and looked terrible, it does bind together over time, but doesn't do so in the level fashion you would like and is never really smooth (think Gravel, but sticky)

[Pettrix]

Thanks for all the info and advice! It's a tough pill to swallow ($35k) to pave the long driveway but that is one of the factors of living out in rural areas. Sure, some leave their roads dirt based but I am not a big fan of that, especially since I like keeping my cars clean and hate the dust (dry) and mud (wet). Rolling the costs into a new home construction loan makes it somewhat more tolerable since it's spread across 30 years. $35K over 30 years @ 5% = $188 month. I will most likely pay the entire home loan off PRIOR to 30 years but the initial hit is not as bad.

I've seen that recycled asphalt stuff and sometimes it looks OK and other times it doesn't.

I will take the advice and get 4" of AB down prior to construction and let the heavy machinery compact it. I've had fully loaded dump trucks go through and they really compact the material. The concrete trucks will really pack it down and I might save some $$ by having the AB compacted prior to the asphalt company coming out. Less work for them and they won't have to use the roller as much. Probably just get the AB flat and level but the compaction will be done by the numerous cement truck visits.

So is 4" of AB good or is 6" worth the extra $?

[dmccarty]

Why not just put down ABC, aka road base gravel, and be done with it? The part of our driveway we use everyday is over 600 feet long, then we have another 1000 feet of private road/driveway before the road becomes somewhat public for another 1,200 feet and finally hits pavement. All of this is gravel. Dust is a function of speed as well as moisture. When I see the dust kick up, I slow down since a neighbors house is close to the road. Dust is only kicked up when people drive too fast. Drive slow and there is no dust. From our gate to our house, I drive in second and maybe third gear which is not fast and I don't see dust. Certainly by the time I get to the driveway any dust is gone because I am in first or second gear.

Put down gravel, drive slow, and save a lot of money.

Later,
Dan

[EddieWalker]

So is 4" of AB good or is 6" worth the extra $?

Depending on where you are and how cold it gets dictates how much rock you need. 4 inches is the minimum for it to lock together and create a solid base. 6 inches is always going to be better. It will be stronger, last longer and require less maintenance. There are places that require a foot, so knowing your soil is also important.

Eddie