Building a road... whoulda thunk it'd be this hard?

[teg]

You'll really need to look at draining all the water out of the area. With springs, that is harder to do but we would create a pocket to collect the water and pipe it down hill and cover the area with flat rocks, then pack dirt and then lay a gravel base. This works for limited use and no heavy trucks.

What "resources" do you have on the property? Is it rocky? So you can gather up some larger flat rock... Is it hilly? So that you can dig your own dirt... leveling out a hill, to build up the raod with?

Once you get the area drained, start raising the road up. If you want this done fast - it's going to cost, if you can wait and either bring in materials yourself in smaller loads... you could do this on the cheap side (just takes time).

 

[srjones]

Geotextile fabric (spun and woven) will save you money in the long run. If the ground is soft, you'll end up pushing the rocks into the dirt...and buying more gravel, which then gets pushed farther into the dirt, etc.

If you get more snow and rain in the winter, the characteristics of the road will change as well.

The old adage is "Cheaper, Faster or Better--pick two" I'm guessing you're opting for cheaper and better. This might take a while.

BTW, love the pix.

 

[Scooby074]

As your quickly learning, cheap and road dont go hand in hand.

Your main issue here is your ground. Its wet and claylike. Springs everywhere are killers too. You may get some gravel spread on it this year, but chances are next spring its going to be a swamp.

Your going to need rock (6"+), not gravel, and TONS of it to make a servicable road thats not going to sink out of site.

If all you want is a bike path, just lay something out in the dryest areas. anything thats going to be for a heavy vehicle (anything besides a ATV) is going to require $$$.

GeoGrid can save on the amount of rock needed, but looking at what your facing, your still going to need lots of rock.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

[Sniggle]

Interesting project.

Totally off subject, the property looks real nice for bow hunting

 

[srjones]

One more thought. Soil stabilization before you put down the fabric/rock/gravel may be a useful option as well, especially in the wet clay areas. There are some exotic substances out there, but a simple, proven, readily available option is lime. Spread it on, rototill it, then pack it down.

http://www.lime.org/soil2.pdf

I'm guessing it's a budget killer for you, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

 

[charlz]

Man that is some wet looking stuff How is the front part of your property? If it's just as wet I wonder what they had to do to get a stable driveway in there? Might give you some clues as to what you would need to do on the back half.

My inclination here is _don't_ just keep throwing money at it... plan your work and then work your plan... even if it is going to take a few years and big $$ to build a nice road/path back there. The kids don't need much more than a foot path so I would consider this an access road and plan accordingly.

 

[hitekcountry]

Best approach is to first study the sources and the movement of water to the point where you have a good understanding of all that's going on. I'm thinking a post hole digger might uncover some interesting surprises. Also what is the geology of the area, is there base rock somewhere below or is it turtles all the way down. (if you don't get that, forget it it's not important).

The lower damp area, is it a low area where water just move through slowly or could there be a small spring coming up from below it.

I would want to divert water away from the area around the road not just directly under it. Water sitting on the sides of the road will keep the ground under the road constantly saturated.

 

[gwjd]

hey this is my first post i worked at a park with like 20 miles of trail in it for three summers. if you tractor can negotiate the mud, then buy your kids some mountain bikes. and your done also you can possibly build up a walking trail around the swampy areas a single track walking trail will stay a lot dryer than a bucket width one and you and build it up and compact it. posibly build some small foot bridgis actos all thoses wet spots. 6 acers dont you have all the dirt you need just have to go dig it up? as far as the springs go i would be tempted to dig them out so i could get more dirt between the culverts and the tractors. also what size tractor you runing

 

[dodge man]

I think you have the right idea in putting culverts under the roads where the low points are. What you need to do is just build the roads up. Gravel would be best, but dirt would be cheaper. If you could bring a foot of dirt in and build them up, then gravel them, that will get you high and dry in a hurry. You just need to find a good source of dry dirt on your property and get it from there. Do you have a high spot where you can get dirt from?

 

[powerstroke444e]

I would say add as much dirt as you can to get you higher. then put a roll of fabric on it. Even if you only add 6" to a foot of dirt it will help and the fabric only needs to be 3' for bikes and 8' for your tractor. Then if it ever dry's up try your best to get the water out with ditches.