I think I have screwed up on my Gravel Drive

[jrclark]

Perhaps a bit overkill, but you may want to put a real base down first, then work in the modified. This pic is in the middle of a field, 300' down and right at the start of our wood line, the ground was so soft our contractor had to keep dumping and packing concrete until it stopped. I have no idea how deep that part of the base is, but it's probably deeper than what's shown here.






These concrete tabs are fairly cheap. You spend way more on the truck and driver than the material.

 

[Leejohn]

That road well be there for a long time.

 

[jrclark]

That road well be there for a long time.

I'd rather pay to do it right in today's dollars than fix it years from now with a higher degree of inflation. Of course, the top will need to be manicured occasionally, but that's a reason to buy more implements

 

[Professor Marvel]

The size rock you have described sounds good to me. It sounds like you might just have too much. I have put too much rock on my roads in spots sometimes on purpose then thought I had made a mistake. 6 months later it was fine. I would stop messing with it for a while and see where it goes and then make appropriate adjustments. Does this road get much traffic? Traffic and weather will help a lot so don't be too impatient.
good luck

 

[Streetcar]

Perhaps a bit overkill, but you may want to put a real base down first, then work in the modified. This pic is in the middle of a field, 300' down and right at the start of our wood line, the ground was so soft our contractor had to keep dumping and packing concrete until it stopped. I have no idea how deep that part of the base is, but it's probably deeper than what's shown here.



View attachment 472740


These concrete tabs are fairly cheap. You spend way more on the truck and driver than the material.

What exactly is that fill and what did you cover the fill with?

 

[jrclark]

What exactly is that fill and what did you cover the fill with?

The base consists of concrete tabs which are the leftover material from concrete castings. When the tabs are knocked off, they go into a bin for disposal. Our contractor buys them, then sells them for $65/load for road base. The topping is 3/4" modified and smaller, if I remember correctly.

Our driveway is 2000' long. If we had to use regular 4" stone, it would have cost us a whole lot more to get it done. Conversely, had we started building a couple months earlier, the concrete might have been free, as the manufacturing place had bins that were overflowing and couldn't get rid of the stuff.

 

[MileHiGuy]

hopefully these pictures come through.

 

[Egon]

The rock in hand is pretty well equal sized with no fines. It will not compact well. Check out Google for pictures of gravel.

A site showing some gravel types.
[video]http://fvagg.com/our-products/crushed-aggregates/three-quarter-inch-road-base/#!prettyPhoto[/video]

 

[LD1]

Looks like what we here would call #8's.

Certainly not a packable stone at all. You need fines to pack. THAT is a top dressing. And anything more than about an inch thick, is like trying to drive or walk in beach sand. Certainly not what I would call a 1/2 minus stone. 1/2...yea. But they forgot all the minus stuff

 

[dodge man]

I agree, it makes a good top and makes your driveway cleaner, but just won't pack into place. If its not too thick, it would probably be OK but I bet where you are having problems its a little thicker.