Gravel Yard Way Mud

[summit151]

I agree with the above posts. Having been in the Drayton area I have seen what you are up against. I would write off the finer gravel you have put down, and I would pound the pitrun to it. 5-6" pitrun with fines and let that settle for a year, or just drive on it,then go to finer stuff IF and only if you don't turn muddy again. If the yard is still muddy, then put more pitrun in but go a little finer like 4-5"-.
22 years ago when I bought this place I had about 50' of driveway that I had to use 4wd to get through in spring. I pounded the bigger pitrun to that hole and the rest of the driveway for two springs, now I have a usable driveway and this year I am going to put down 3/4" granular 'A'.
After and only after you get a reasonably dry yard (no mud) I would go with asphalt grindings, but only if you can get them cheaply. Sometimes when road contractors do a shave and pave on the roads they have more grindings than they can use in the new mix design. When that happens they will sometimes sell them to locals, cheap.

Ok all good suggestions guys. Are you saying I should dig all my gravel up and then add the bigger rock? That would be very pricey to do. Can you put bigger rock down right now on top of the smaller 1 1/4"?

 

[Snobdds]

Ok all good suggestions guys. Are you saying I should dig all my gravel up and then add the bigger rock? That would be very pricey to do. Can you put bigger rock down right now on top of the smaller 1 1/4"?

The problem is the clay, whatever you put down will eventually sink down into the clay. The best would be to put down some road fabric and prevent any aggregate from migrating into the clay. Then you can put a layer of larger aggregate and then a layer of topping aggregate. This will keep the road base stable and stop the clay from allowing water to pool.

Experiment with a section of your road that is the worst. Get some road fabric (geotextile) put it down and the rock. I bet you will see a drastic improvement.

 

[Looking4new]

The ideal bags of money to burn situation, (you picked the right 7 numbers) then dig it out. If you are like the rest of us on a budget, then the geotextile and pitrun.
If you are running a business out of your house, (14,000 lb truck) then talk to your accountant about how much of the money spent may be recoverable off your income tax.

 

[fried1765]

The problem is the clay, whatever you put down will eventually sink down into the clay. The best would be to put down some road fabric and prevent any aggregate from migrating into the clay. Then you can put a layer of larger aggregate and then a layer of topping aggregate. This will keep the road base stable and stop the clay from allowing water to pool.

Experiment with a section of your road that is the worst. Get some road fabric (geotextile) put it down and the rock. I bet you will see a drastic improvement.

Unfortunately you made a rookie mistake,
I was a rookie once, and made LOTS worse mistakes (not driveways/roads).
Your problem is, and will always be ...... the clay base.
If you want to do it right, for a lasting solution, you need a stable base (no clay).
Your cheapest good fix, might be to scrape up as much of your clean used gravel as possible, and save it.
Then have at least a foot of the clay totally removed, and replaced with sandy pit run material.
Then put your used gravel on top, with some fresh 3/4" minus on top of that, and a significant crown.
You should also create ditches about 2' deep along each side.
It will be pricey to have done, but it will be solid!

 

[Billrog]

This is a good time of year while it's muddy to add some 2 or 3" crush while it will pack in . You've got a good start for a base now so don't be digging it up. Next spring it may be solid enough to get by with some 3/4" crush for a nice topping.

 

[RNeumann]

Ok all good suggestions guys. Are you saying I should dig all my gravel up and then add the bigger rock? That would be very pricey to do. Can you put bigger rock down right now on top of the smaller 1 1/4"?

I'm not sure you are understanding the road fabric or large rock base "problem".

First road fabric is relatively cheap. Much less than rock. Plus it's easy to lay out.

The second is the rock base. You can use 2" or 4" or 6" rock. The rock, to a point, will continue to sink into the ground and push clay up. This simply perpetuates your problem.

You don't have to remove anything that is on the road now. Folks were just offering that as a way to save material. You can add the fabric and then add "base" "class 2 base" "crusher run" "1" minus" over the fabric.

 

[summit151]

I'm not sure you are understanding the road fabric or large rock base "problem".

First road fabric is relatively cheap. Much less than rock. Plus it's easy to lay out.

The second is the rock base. You can use 2" or 4" or 6" rock. The rock, to a point, will continue to sink into the ground and push clay up. This simply perpetuates your problem.

You don't have to remove anything that is on the road now. Folks were just offering that as a way to save material. You can add the fabric and then add "base" "class 2 base" "crusher run" "1" minus" over the fabric.

I do understand the concept of the fabric just was not sure if I could lay it over the existing base I have now. And clay is used a lot around here to build roads. The county builds up the road with it. If I were to lay down 3" or 2" crush on top of my base now would the larger rock sink in and create a base?

 

[RNeumann]

I do understand the concept of the fabric just was not sure if I could lay it over the existing base I have now. And clay is used a lot around here to build roads. The county builds up the road with it. If I were to lay down 3" or 2" crush on top of my base now would the larger rock sink in and create a base?

Rock/base will continue to sink until it reaches the bottom of the clay. This has the inverse affect as well- it will push the clay up. This will not make the desired base.

If you have clay and it is used to make a road simply place the fabric between the clay and 5-6" of imported road material. 5-6" is a driveway quality driving surface. More imported material would be required for a public road or highway etc. I'm sure your municipality's road spec has the fabric layer.

 

[Cord]

Hey guys. I have another question regarding gravel issues. Since you guys were so helpful on my previous post. So I am fairly young I am 23 so I don't have much knowledge about this stuff or experience. I built a acreage about 3 years ago and built a large gravel yard. I live in Alberta Canada so we get a lot of snow and rain. I built the driveway and yard way out of clay and packed that down and then installed a couple inches of 1 1/4" crushed gravel which contained sand to help lock it in place. So each year I add more and more gravel to both the drive way and yard way. It does keep getting better and better each year but it is muddy in the spring. I'm just wondering if I should keep adding more and more gravel to create a base or what else to do? It is sloped well for the water to run off

You're chasing your tail by putting more gravel down. The problem is that you did not build a proper base to put the gravel on top of. Once the dirt gets wet, the particles move apart and then the bearing capacity goes down.

 

[Egon]

Ahh---the good old Drayton Valley mud yes. Slippery sticky stuff that. Come spring you got a couple of inches of it tracked all over the town streets. It even seems to follow one into the house after it sucks your gumboots off.

Notice the dually tracks didn't sink down? Just made marks in the grease.

Your all okay. Just keep adding crushed gravel as affordable. Keep the surface smooth and sloped so it drains. Come summer it'll look like concrete.

You may notice all the roads in your area are made from packed clay with crushed gravel on top. Large rock may be hard to come by or require long hauls. It wil not work as well as crushed in your area.

Worst time will be in the spring when the frost is going out. That's when the road weight restrictions come into effect.