Rural Road Maintenance / No County Support !

[California]

I need advice.

I'm a quarter mile in, on a narrow easement owned by the six of us along the easement. No HOA or county aspect. As the little one-horse farms have been bought by city weekenders I now have neighbors willing to share cost but without equipment or expertise. So it is falling to me to maintain access.

When an expensive house was built beyond me the owner had his driveway contractor drag and roll the whole easement because his construction traffic was 90% of the road use. Now its time to go back to shared maintenance. Whatever his contractor put in the holes isn't staying there after two rainy winters.

What can I use to fill potholes, that won't get pumped out by traffic when wet? The easement is over 100 years old so plenty of gravel in the top few inches. I have graded surface gravel into the holes with my angle back blade then back-dragged but this provides no compaction to bind the material to the existing surface. A theory for making cement says you need equal proportions of gravel down to fines so voids get filled. I assume this applies to a gravel/clay road surface too.

I can have material trucked in. Should I specify drain rock, crusher mix, sand, maybe 'bluerock' which is a soft black shale that for a low-traffic surface, compacts to almost asphalt. Decomposed granite might be available, I know it is, 100 miles closer to the mountains. Then how do I place new material so it will stay put in the potholes?

Any advice welcome!

Old photo: Bluerock on my personal driveway coming in from the easement. 15 years later it looks the same, no ruts or potholes. Rain typical 37" per year.

 

[randy41]

me and my neighbor filled potholes with a mixture of gravel and mud. most of those potholes are still filled.

 

[Streetcar]

To fill potholes you need a mixture of rock sizes3/4” minus crusher run is typically a good blend.potholes reform as filler material are not as compacted as rest of roadway. I would take my boxblade and rip area around pothole fill with crusher run and compact with water filled roller, with good results

 

[aczlan]

To fill potholes you need a mixture of rock sizes3/4” minus crusher run is typically a good blend.potholes reform as filler material are not as compacted as rest of roadway. I would take my boxblade and rip area around pothole fill with crusher run and compact with water filled roller, with good results

Exactly, you need to chew up the road around/under the pothole so that the road and your filler are the same consistency.

Aaron Z

 

[Nikkorott]

I need advice.

What can I use to fill potholes, that won't get pumped out by traffic when wet? The easement is over 100 years old so plenty of gravel in the top few inches. I have graded surface gravel into the holes with my angle back blade then back-dragged but this provides no compaction to bind the material to the existing surface. A theory for making cement says you need equal proportions of gravel down to fines so voids get filled. I assume this applies to a gravel/clay road surface too.

I can have material trucked in. Should I specify drain rock, crusher mix, sand, maybe 'bluerock' which is a soft black shale that for a low-traffic surface, compacts to almost asphalt. Decomposed granite might be available, I know it is, 100 miles closer to the mountains. Then how do I place new material so it will stay put in the potholes?

Any advice welcome!

What we use is AB2 or Base Rock 2 on our roads. It's available all over your area. You might even be able to get an order off of craigslist. One thing to watch out for though is the recycled stuff probably has some nails in it so keep your eyes peeled when you spread it.