Steep gravel driveway advice

[firefighter jim]

Jim that ditch is a thing of beauty great views also. Looks like you were dealing with runoff from above more than anything. As far as the drive, that isn't near as steep as what I was dealing with. There reaches a point that whatever gravel you use if it is steep enough concrete is the only thing that will stand the test of time.

MarkV

Mark, Thanks. Original ditch was deteriorating at a fairly quick pace and therefore had to reditch and add riprap to slow water and keep erosion in check. There's still alot more drive that you can't see in the pics which is fairly steep in spots. A bit dicey in the Winter to say the least!

 

[sjb]

I would talk to the trucker that you are going to use to haul the gravel. What works best is something that varies a bit region to region, and the guys that haul it every day usually have a pretty good idea of what will hold up, and what wont.

I'm in western mass, and have a driveway similar to yours. I used what is known here as shoulder stone. It is similar to crusher run with bigger ( 3/4"") pieces mixed in. It has held up for me.

Stan

 

[Ken45101]

Oh you have it easy, LOL. We have about a 175' elevation climb on our driveway (up to 10% grade). Fortunately, most of it was concrete long before we bought the place.

As has been noted, crushed stone designations vary from state to state. I get mine from both Ohio and Kentucky. Kentucky looks at me in total confusion when I use Ohio designations (e.g. 57, crusher run, 304, #4, etc.) BTW, 304 is crusher run (fines) with up to 3/4 stone mixed in.

If you have good solid ground, you can go with something like 57. But I think that spinning tires will throw it around. #4 may be better. When I modified (widened ours), anything small just disappeared into the clay. I needed #2 (2-3" rock) so that it wouldn't sink in and disappear or be skidded away. #4 would be a compromise with 304 on the top to lock it together.

I've also used #2 as a base at another location on flat soft ground. Then #4 on top.

For a final solution, I would recommend concrete vs blacktop on a hill. Concrete will hold up much better than blacktop where running water may get under the edge and erode it and break it down. OTOH, blacktop may be cheaper (or maybe not) and will warm up somewhat better from winter sun.

Our driveway is bad enough that every winter we have some period where the only way up and down is with a 4 wheeler. Two years, I had to put chains on the 4 wheeler!

Ken

 

[Dave5264]

Another thing to consider (the drainage ditch reminded me), I have a vacation home with avery steep driveway. I put an inverted V shaped shallow trench at the top to prevent washouts.

Imagine the trench starts at the left side of the driveway, as it moves right towards the center it also moves up. At the center of the drive way It continues to the right side but now moves down, in effect foming an inverted V that will channel the water off to each side where its captured by drainage pipes and taken away. (sorry no pics)

this gravel driveway got washed out 3 yrs ago after a major storm and 20 tonnes on gravel got washed away in a heart beat. it was horrendous. didnt want that again so i put in a series of these diversionary trenches and pipes to better manage the water. we back on to a huge rock out-cropping, so when the rain comes on heavy for hours on end (which it has), it doesnt soak into the soil, it just starts running down the rock and ulitmately ends up in my parking lot and cascading down the drive way.

I spent one entire summer watching where the water came from and went to during these storms to better position these water management trenches & runoff areas.