Redoing drive to chicken house

[MarkV]

VWBill,

First I am no expert but here is how we have been doing it. Here in N. Georgia, the people who built my drive say to use #4 (1 1/2 - 2 1/2) on new cuts to hold the cut and make a sub base. Sounds like don't need that and have the start of a base already. Crusher run is the base material used around here on farm roads, all the way to 4 lanes. Now for the rub. I have been putting about 25 tons on a 400' drive every year for the past four years. We have a pretty good drive now and I have no idea how thick it is. When the wet season comes we still have red clay coming through in areas but not the sloppy mud we had at one time. What many do here is after a base of crusher run is built up they will top with a thin layer of "57" (1/2 to 1", no fines). The draw back to crusher run is the amount of rock dust you track into the house. The "57" stops that but will not lock together like crusher run.

This is how we are going at it, not to claim it is the right way, just the way we have been told. I have found that building a gravel drive is like potato salad, everyone has there own reciept./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MarkV

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Bill,

The number I use for 1 1/4 crushed rock is 2600# / Yard.

Al

 

[gordon]

Cool link this is the one I use http://www.rmcpacific.com/toolbox/tonnage.htm
Gordon

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Gordon,

You are a handy guy to have around. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I used the web calculator for one cubic yard (3ft long, 3ft wide, and 36 inches paving thickness, 36 inches compacted stone)

This gave 1.8 tons for compacted stone or 3600 lbs/cu Yd.

My "Pocket Reference" by Thomas Glover has the following:

Gravel dry 1/4 to 2 inch 2835 lbs/cu.Yd
Gravel loose dry 2565 lbs/cu Yd.
Gravel wet 1/4 to 2 inch 3375 lbs/cu.Yd

My last two 1 1/4 crushed rock truck loads were 15.5 tons and 15.2 tons.

These are 10 yard trucks, heaped and the gravel was semi dry. This gives for a struck truck 3040 lbs/cu Yd and for a heaped truck (12 yards) 2533 lbs/cu Yd.

I don't have a clue what this means but it was fun checking it out. I think I will use 2600 lbs/cu Yd. and buy gravel in the summer when it's dry./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Billc]

Mark,

Funny, I'm doing it backards of you. This past spring I put in a 1/4 mile drive to my shop-barn. Asked my gravel man the best way to come out with a good drive. He told me to cut my road, put down a layer of #5 (1 to 1.5 inch rock),this winter when the road gets muddy (now) and the #5 is pressed into the mud to have another load delivered. After the same thing happens to the second load then go with the crush and run. He said the first two layers of #5 will make the drive very hard and be a good base. The crush and run will then pack very tight and be almost like asphalt.

Yep, just like potato salad!

Bill Cook

 

[MarkV]

Bill,

Gravel roads have been a real eye opener for me. The last 5 years is the first time I have delt with doing this and I had no idea how much gravel it took to get a good road. I keep dumping gravel (read $$$) and it keeps going away./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

I would guess your gravel guy is giving you good advice for what you are doing. I should have added in my post that our drive is in the mountains and has some good grades. Crusher run will lock together where #5 stays loose until it packs into the mud. Hills and loose gravel are not the best set up for getting cars in and out.

With my limited experience, I think the bottom line is 1.) Its got to drain well 2.)you have to build up the base over time (lots of gravel) 3.)without 1., 2. will not work.

MarkV

 

[TomG]

Around here, the trucking companies figure it by the load rather than tons or yards. A load is 15 - 16 yards--it depends on the guy operating the loader. The companies are always happier if whole loads are ordered. A whole load takes the same time as a partial load. Most gravel around is from alluvial deposits. The gravel is cheap, but making the run is what costs, and many customers expect too big a discount for partial loads. I'd try to find a company that will give you a good deal for ordering whole loads. If you get too much, a gravel pile always has its uses.

In terms of how much, my drives were already packed fill topped with gravel. I used the existing drives for bases and ordered about a load per 100' of drive when some filling was required, less otherwise. I compact the gravel with the tractor and let it settle through some use, and then I see if it needs more gravel.

I think as mentioned elsewhere, a gravel road that has drainage problems isn't going to last and is going to keep a box scraper busy indefinitely.

 

[cowboydoc]

Another idea that I've used the roads I've built the last year is to put the fabric down before you start building your road. It costs a little but it sure saves alot in the amount of gravel you have to put down. The last road I built on the same piece of property, so same soil, it took about 10 less loads of gravel after putting down the fabric first.
Richard

 

[TomG]

That's an interesting idea. I wonder what kind of fabric and how well it might work around wet lands? We're trying to lease to surplus flood plain land from our utility company. The land is left over from a hydro-electrical dam project. I hopped back in here mostly to note my misuse of the term 'alluvial.' I wanted to straighten out my post, but found an interesting idea as well.

The gravel I mentioned is a mixture of sand and small rock. It is carried by glacier flood waters, so it is alluvial in a sense. I used the term alluvial to distinguish it from these deposits from glacier deposits that were not deposited by flowing water. Other type deposits consist of large smooth rock and little sand.

The property we're trying to lease has some sizable areas above an administered high water level, but an access road may have to be extended across some lower ground. The usual method around here is called a corduroy road--made by laying cedar logs side by side across a road in wet spots. There are sizable stands of cedar on the property, but our object in getting this scrappy piece of bush is to keep it that way. The beavers have taken down enough trees as it is, and also left a bunch of widow-makers. I think I'll need an access road so I can use the tractor to help with removing some definite hazards on the property.

 

[cowboydoc]

Tom,
It's actually road fabric and it's specifically good for wet areas. It is permieable to water so the water drains off keeping the road itself pretty dry. My other roads I had and have to keep adding alot of gravel. I've had to add none to the three pieces of road I've built with the fabric and the roads with the fabric stay dryer than the other ones. I'm really sold on it. A guy that used to build cell towers got me started on using it. He had to make temporary roads to get to the towers and he used this all the time and said it saved him a fortune in gravel.
Richard