A road over swamp?

[Soundguy]

i kinda doubt the OP has the funds for geo textile fabrics too...

[yaouk]

i kinda doubt the OP has the funds for geo textile fabrics too...

Geotextiles have come down a lot in price recently. I used 50 metres of geotextile on another road i have that had a firmer base. If the base is very soft the tetxile may be deformed to the point of damage after a short while.

Of course Mr Soundguy knows this

[sdkubota]

Geotextiles have come down a lot in price recently. I used 50 metres of geotextile on another road i have that had a firmer base. If the base is very soft the tetxile may be deformed to the point of damage after a short while.

Of course Mr Soundguy knows this

Realize their is a huge difference in nonwoven geotextile fabrics that look like heavy felt and the structural fabric that looks like a snow fence (Tensar). They also perform completely different tasks. A nonwoven fabric adds zero stability to a road but will keep the granular material separated from the subgrade (mud).

[crazyal]

You can know after all. Its been a long time between drinks but I finally ckecked back with this Forum.
The crossing was one of the few things I have done that has actually worked well after 13 years. It took 2 ton cars easily and the occassional concrete truck. Over time some tyres did pop up - but I simply removed them and filled in the hole. Also as the base was not level or consistent some tyres would be pushed down and require more fill over the top. On average i would place a layer of gravel (about 75mm or 3 inches) over the top each year and that is the extent of the maintence - apart from mowing as the grass grew through the gravel.

In retrospect I would do some things differently. I used rather small gravel at about 20-25mm. This is fine for a top coating and for lighter vehicles but for a solid base you need much larger stuff - at leat 100mm or 4 inches. I am in the process of upgrading the road to morer safely take trucks 15-20ton. For this I am simply using a larger size gravel. It will never be strong enough for regular use of big trucks.

Take home messages:
Its a lot of work to bolt those tyres together!
Use gravel at least 75mm in size for a base.
The road will always be 4x4 only as wheel spin does cause holes.

Oh and for the record: Only one person was ever stuck. My neighbour drove his 2-wheel drive truck over the edge one day to avoid a floating log during a flood.

Hope people find this entertaining after all these years.
George

Nice to hear an update. I have an area that's muddy, not really a swamp. I've been reading up on ideas so I can make a trail so I can get a tractor across it to skid logs. Over the last few years I've been putting rocks the size of a microwave into the ruts to fill them in. It's not too long, maybe 100 feet. The rocks have held up nicely to ATV traffic but they are too slippery for the tractor. I thought about putting down rough cut Hemlock and burying that but while I have lots of Hemlock I don't have a cheap quick way to turn logs into boards. After rereading this I'm thinking that maybe a grid of tires over the rocks filled with hard pan might work well. I'm sure I could get as many free used tires as I want and bolting them together shouldn't be too bad. Plus the tires would raise the trail up about 6" above everything else and help keep it dry.

[tcreeley]

Local DOT used shredded tires as a base for a swampy area. It worked, but it started to pollute the area. Generally people make corduroy roads in low lying swampy areas, logs side by side and across the roadway, and on top of that add gravel. Overtime, they just add more to the surface as it slowly sinks in.




(nice site)
Thoughts from the Woods: Corduroy Road Update

[PILOON]

i kinda doubt the OP has the funds for geo textile fabrics too...

Old carpeting could be an economical alternative. I have seen it used occasionally. Most current carpets are synthetic and should last as long as geo textile.
I would guess any contractor that does hotels would be more than happy to donate his pulls.