Concrete thickness for gravel driveway entrance

[rbstern]

We're rebuilding our front gate. We're also thinking about pouring a slab between the edge of the county street and the gate. We're having problems keeping that part of our gravel drive in good shape. It gets rutted by the mail truck and vehicles coming/going from our property. It's a section that would probably need a slab of about 10' x 25'.

My question: Thickness of the slab. Is 6" enough? Heaviest vehicles we get would be the propane delivery truck (a few times a year), UPS and Fedex vehicles, and once every 5 years or so, a septic pumper.

 

[Captain Dirty]

We're rebuilding our front gate. We're also thinking about pouring a slab between the edge of the county street and the gate. We're having problems keeping that part of our gravel drive in good shape. It gets rutted by the mail truck and vehicles coming/going from our property. It's a section that would probably need a slab of about 10' x 25'.

My question: Thickness of the slab. Is 6" enough? Heaviest vehicles we get would be the propane delivery truck (a few times a year), UPS and Fedex vehicles, and once every 5 years or so, a septic pumper.

The delivery vans--USPS, UPS, Fedex, Amazon--that put their R tires on the unimproved shoulder before they cross the apron on my drive are harder on the apron than the oil delivery tank wagon and other, heavier trucks that actually turn into my driveway. Six inches would be the minimum (with wire or rebar). More important than the depth of the concrete would be the soil and base preparation beneath the slab. If they enter the apron from the shoulder some attention should be spent on the shoulder as well. Do not count on a ditch to discourage them.

 

[Hay Dude]

Also knowing soil conditions under slab would help. If its really tight compacted and well drained, it will make a big difference.

 

[bcp]

Your county may have some requirements or restrictions, too. It's probably at least partly on their land.

Bruce

 

[rademamj1]

We just did permanent concrete at our ranch gate entrance a few months ago, and also did the garage area at same time. We used 4000psi strength concrete at 5.5 inches thick, with 1/2" rebar at 16" grid spacing, with 6 Guage welded wire sheets laying down on top of the rebar. All rebar was placed on 2.5" plastic risers which elevates the rebar above the water vapor ground sheet and directly into middle of the concrete slab.View attachment 682188View attachment 682189

 

[Hay Dude]

We just did permanent concrete at our ranch gate entrance a few months ago, and also did the garage area at same time. We used 4000psi strength concrete at 5.5 inches thick, with 1/2" rebar at 16" grid spacing, with 6 Guage welded wire sheets laying down on top of the rebar. All rebar was placed on 2.5" plastic risers which elevates the rebar above the water vapor ground sheet and directly into middle of the concrete slab.

Thats about exactly what I would do. I like the extra thickness concrete with rebar and WWF stacked up.
I havent poured a garage floor under 5” thick in years.

 

[lilranch2001]

I agree, anyone who pours a slab at 4"s in my humble opinion is just asking for failure

 

[rbstern]

Thanks for the feedback, gents.

The ground is well packed and well drained. I put in a message into the county, asking for their requirements. They let me know they will make an appointment and come out to inspect and comment.

I'm not planning on going any thinner than 6". I had planned on laying in wire. I'll consider rebar as well.

 

[s219]

The delivery vans--USPS, UPS, Fedex, Amazon--that put their R tires on the unimproved shoulder before they cross the apron on my drive are harder on the apron than the oil delivery tank wagon and other, heavier trucks that actually turn into my driveway. Six inches would be the minimum (with wire or rebar). More important than the depth of the concrete would be the soil and base preparation beneath the slab. If they enter the apron from the shoulder some attention should be spent on the shoulder as well. Do not count on a ditch to discourage them.

We've been living here for 7 years and I never had problems until Amazon and FedEx started using untrained drivers. They are totally unpredictable. I have had dump trucks and cement trucks come in with no problems, and I can turn the corner with a full size crew cab pickup and 7x16 trailer in tow with room to spare. Yet these new delivery drivers can't get modern (small) vans into the entrance without cutting the corner and making a mess. I finally put a pile of rocks and an orange cone out there to train them. It's had mixed success but been amusing. I also had to put up a sign and cones near our house, to force them to use the turnaround instead of driving right up to our garage where they can't figure out how to turn around without causing damage.

It's funny because our UPS guy, who's delivered all those 7 years, can pilot his much larger truck effortlessly. I always let him drive right up to the garage because he knew what he was doing. I guess I took his skills for granted all these years.

The other thing I notice with this new batch of untrained drivers is that they turn in to the driveway much too fast. It wears down a low spot in my crusher run that I never had before, and furrows up a curved trail of gravel. Has me thinking about an apron for the first time ever.

 

[EddieWalker]

We just did permanent concrete at our ranch gate entrance a few months ago, and also did the garage area at same time. We used 4000psi strength concrete at 5.5 inches thick, with 1/2" rebar at 16" grid spacing, with 6 Guage welded wire sheets laying down on top of the rebar. All rebar was placed on 2.5" plastic risers which elevates the rebar above the water vapor ground sheet and directly into middle of the concrete slab.View attachment 682188View attachment 682189

This sounds really good. The only thing that I would add is to make sure they do not add extra water to the mix. It is a lot easier for them to spread with extra water, but the concrete only needs a certain amount to set up, and the extra water creates more volume that causes cracking when it evaporates out of the concrete. The extra water will also weaken to overall strength of the concrete. The only way to make sure they don't add extra water to the mix is to stand there and watch over them, telling them NOT to add water. Never trust anybody that they will do it right, the wont. You have to be there to make sure it's correct.

Ideally, you want to be able to fill a one quart pale with the concrete mix and then make a sand castle out of it. If it remains standing, you are perfect. This is very hard to do with residential jobs, but required in commercial jobs. It's called a slump test, and there are a bunch of websites that show you how to do it if your unsure.