converting a lightly used dirt road to gravel - how important is it to follow gravel road building best practices?

[tayl0r]

Hi! I have some spots on my property that have turned from grass into dirt because I drive my equipment through those areas. I'd like to throw some gravel down to reduce the mud and dust and to make it look nicer.

I have watched youtube videos and did a fair amount of research on the proper way to build a serious gravel road, and I understand that it involves removing the topsoil, an 8" base of large stones, then another 4" of smaller gravel + fines.

I'm wondering for my use case here, where the road is only going to see very very light traffic, if I can throw a couple inches of like a 3/4" minus down over the existing compacted dirt and call it a day? Is that going to improve anything?

Has anyone done something similar on their properties? How did it turn out?

Thoughts?

Edit: I'm located in the PNW. My soil is fairly rocky and I believe it is on the clay side of the spectrum since it turns rock hard in the summer.

 

[2manyrocks]

...depends on your soil. I have a lot of clay that's hard as a rock when it's dry, but when the soil is wet, gravel disappears into the muck.

The other thing would be vegetation because vegetation wants to grow in top soil.

Having both muck and vegetation tends not to make for a good roadbed.

 

[duffer]

Your profile doesn't say where you're located, and that will make a difference if you're in rocky parts of TX, or great farm land in the upper midwest.

Usually...removing the topsoil is best, because the rock you add on top will permiate down thru the topsoil, and you just wasted $500-$750 for a truckload of gravel. I would suggest you get a local aggregate that will compact well under traffic. Most times it includes "fines" in the mix.

 

[seville009]

I had a path going into a back field that would be wet/muddy until july or so each summer (live in central ny).

Had dug a pond in the back field; dug up lots and lots of shale and mud. I used all of the shale/mud mix to build a good road over the muddy area where i wanted the path. I just plopped down large piles of it in the path, and let it dry over a few weeks. As it dried, i would drive over it to continuously pack it down (had an excavator and a tracked skidsteer- excellent packing machines….).

The path/road has stayed firm all if these years.

So…..if you’re in sn area with alot of shale, try that.

 

[chim]

At our house, the excavator dug down and put a base of 3A Modified that was between 9" and 12" depending where it was measured. Then he put a few inched of 2A Modified on top of that. No fabric was used. Driveway was always solid any time of year. We didn't need to do much of anything to it till we paved a few years later. One spot on the hill did wash a little bit a few times.

There's a spur that goes to the sheds and near the LPG tank that wasn't paved and is still the way it was originally installed. It has no problems handling trucks any day of the year. Over the years the stones have mostly disappeared beneath a buildup of organic material and some topsoil from floods. In the worst of conditions, it gets maybe an inch or so of creamy-ish mud that doesn't affect usage at all.

Around here, spreading some stone wouldn't do the job.

 

[JasperFrank]

Just throwing down 3/4 minus will do nothing. It will just sink. You need at least 1" to 1- 1/2" clear, three inches high on top of the "road.". I wouldn't even bother with removing top soil or adding a top cover like 3/4 minus. The frost heave will create a top layer of soil after two years, but you will have the base to support any machinery you are running over it, and it will drain.

I'm in the PNW, Central Western Oregon, with a similar soil type. I've layed down many cubic yards of just 3/4 minus in areas i wanted to firm up. But it doesn't drain, gets pushed down under the clay and after five years, is of no benefit at all. The areas covered with the larger clear rock have held up.

 

[Citydude]

I removed the top soil from the 1400ft abandoned logging road that had small trees and grass growing on it.

It was very well built with ditches and hard packed. I had 5 loads of 3/4- tail dumped on it 6 inches deep 4 years ago and it's held very well.

 

[dirttoys]

make sure you have no standing water, or water running across the road.

I don't think everyone will agree with this, but, if you road bed is elevated, and has a good crown, you can throw down 3 inches of road rock and see how it lasts. Work on the soft spots over time.

I try not to bother ever spreading anything less than 3X the size of the aggregate. So 3/4 inch road rock needs to be 2 and a quarter deep.

Best,

ed

 

[Jstpssng]

How long is the road, how often will you be using it, and how much money do you want to spend? For light or even more frequent use you could get a roll of GeoTex GEOTEX® Woven Geotextiles to roll out onto your existing grade, then put fravel on top.

 

[newbury]

How long is the road, how often will you be using it, and how much money do you want to spend? For light or even more frequent use you could get a roll of GeoTex GEOTEX® Woven Geotextiles to roll out onto your existing grade, then put fravel on top.

Is fravel just mistyped gravel? Or is it certain size or something?