Compacting gravel driveway

[dodge man]

If the gravel you are having delivered has fines in it I wouldn’t add any dust.

Gravel may be sold by the yard but they weigh it to get the number of yards. There is no easy way to get a volume of something like gravel so they use an average weight per yard.

 

[LouNY]

If you really want to do a good job compacting a gravel driveway, use a compactor like this or even a self propelled rubber tired compactor. They will do a better job then the steel drum compactors.

 

[stucknutz]

Depending on size of gravel and if it has dust or not. It wont pack even with a compactor.

Say #57 crushed limestone sure you can run over and "compact" it with a roller but once a car runs on it and turns it's tires that gravel is no longer compacted.

 

[alexinPA]

You’re basically wasting time compacting clean stone. The roller will smooth it out and make it look better but it will roll around again as soon as you drive on it. The stone dust or crusher run is the only way to make it lock together.

that's what i'm getting. It's called modified in my area. Just thinking about adding more stone dust for better compaction

 

[chim]

compact, then spread 1-2" stone dust and recompact

Worked as a laborer for a contractor who built A section of PA283 in Lancaster County when I was a kid.* On secondary roads that had to be redirected they used a thick bed 4" ballast and rolled it with a large vibratory roller. Then they dumped and spread screenings and worked them into the nooks and crannies with a grader. Rolled again several times with a crew of us laborers brushing the screenings around till the ballast wouldn't accept any more. That was in the late 60's and although portions of the main concrete road have been replaced, I think the side roads might still be original.

* Worked lots of places then. My tax returns looked like a listing of the local yellow pages My stepdad said I'd never amount to anything because of my job hopping. He was a lifetime Armstrong employee and it wasn't till I had 15 years or so with the company that he thought I'd be OK. Finally retired from there 2021 after 48 years. RIP Pop.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I'm just west of you near Honesdale. I have a 1.25 mile private gravel road which I maintain. I buy a product from Atkinson Materials, now a division of the H&K Group, near Hawley. It's called 2A modified and it has plenty of fines. I find adding stone dust isn't necessary. This of course will depend on individual quarry mix.

I found that even when compacted, stone dust on the surface is prone to shifting by wind & water, especially on a slope.

 

[Cycledude]

Where I live they started selling gravel by weight a few years ago, previously it was mostly sold by the yard.
My experience has been that it usually packs better if you can grade it and drive over it when it’s wet.
Around here there are a few different types of gravel and some types pack better than others but they are also more expensive.

 

[dodge man]

When I’ve seen gravel compacted on highway jobs it was always with a smooth wheel vibratory roller. It’s also possible to over roll things.

 

[paulsharvey]

That's why I time my products delivered at least a week after it rains. But in the grand scheme of things, how many gallons of water does gravel hold? 250 gallons is a ton. I've never seem dripping gravel, or crushed stone for that matter. But not what I ordered...

7% by volume, roughly

 

[paulsharvey]

This same stuff comes up every 3 months or so. Washed stone doesn't really compact unless your pushing it into the subgrade. Our OP said "crushed stone" which in my world is Not washed rock. Crushed implies multiple grades from fines upto maybe the size of a fist. Is that is the material, no need for fines. If what you call crushed rock is actually a clean gravel, yes, 100%, you'll want fines; BUT they need to be fully mixed into your base material, not just spread in surface.

Also, can't compact dust or mud, need your moisture right to get much compaction.