Advice for gravel drive?

[LouNY]

I am amazed by the number of people wanting clay fora road base,
around here we dig the clay out to put down fabric and gravel.
Clay acts as a sponge and wicks water up and migrates thru gravel that doesn't have fabric.

 

[JerryK]

A mixture of about 1/3 clay and 2/3's pit run gravel [ sand to rocks about a foot in diameter, mostly smaller ], packed down and covered with a good layer of limestone works great. You have to have the base humped up to keep water off it. But once the clay hardens she acts like concrete. You put it down in a hollow or not ditch it proper, and it will get soggy and spongy.

 

[oosik]

My mile long gravel driveway was built 38 years ago. A good solid base of basaltic lava railroad ballast - six inches of pit run on top of that. It has held up just fine. Except for a 100 foot section which is a bottomless bog. However - just prior to the "bog section" drying out for the summer - I trowel it smooth and its good until the fall rains. Grass grows down the middle and right up to the driven track on each side. That's OK also - the roots help hold the pit run in place.

 

[Egon]

I am amazed by the number of people wanting clay fora road base,
around here we dig the clay out to put down fabric and gravel.
Clay acts as a sponge and wicks water up and migrates thru gravel that doesn't have fabric.

Maybe take a look underneath the major highways across the country.

 

[LouNY]

Maybe take a look underneath the major highways across the country.

Well considering the condition of our highway system maybe they are, maybe they shouldn't.
Our local roads seem to wick water up and get soft and mush out, decades ago they used a lot of crushed shale as road base,
it worked good for a long time now it has reverted back to blue clay and the roads have no bottom.

 

[ruffdog]

Maybe take a look underneath the major highways across the country.

I have seen what is under old roads and I know what the road base standards are for new road construction is. They NEVER can use the old clay soil base that was allowed many years ago because it can't hold the weight we put on them now.

 

[ovrszd]

I am amazed by the number of people wanting clay fora road base,
around here we dig the clay out to put down fabric and gravel.
Clay acts as a sponge and wicks water up and migrates thru gravel that doesn't have fabric.

I've read many threads about this here on TBN. It reminds me that we all don't have the same soil type. Even though the OP and I are in the same State, we don't share the same soil type.

Clay in NW Missouri is generally the best base you are going to get naturally. It doesn't absorb water as easily as other soil types.

In NW Missouri fabric is usually a mistake. And as the OP has already been warned, will probably work it's way to the surface in some places while staying put in others. It usually results in being torn out and requiring the roadbed to be rebuilt.

 

[ruffdog]

I've read many threads about this here on TBN. It reminds me that we all don't have the same soil type. Even though the OP and I are in the same State, we don't share the same soil type.

Clay in NW Missouri is generally the best base you are going to get naturally. It doesn't absorb water as easily as other soil types.

In NW Missouri fabric is usually a mistake. And as the OP has already been warned, will probably work it's way to the surface in some places while staying put in others. It usually results in being torn out and requiring the roadbed to be rebuilt.

....and it may depend on how deep the ground freezes in the winter and the level of moisture you get in a region. If you change one variable, then you have to go with a different design.

 

[oosik]

In this part of the world we have spring time load restrictions on all the county roads. That's when the frost goes out and county roads become a roller coaster ride. Except for my "100' bog section" the driveway isn't phased during spring breakup. After 38 years I've given up the thought of doing something to this soft section. It's only soft for a couple weeks or so then, like the remainder of the driveway, it turns to concrete.

 

[ovrszd]

....and it may depend on how deep the ground freezes in the winter and the level of moisture you get in a region. If you change one variable, then you have to go with a different design.

Yep. Even changes year to year in the same location.

I interpreted the OP's scenario as relatively small with no high speed traffic and very little if any heavy traffic and possibly temporary.