Grading Driveway Project

[Gittyup]

I've been working on this driveway back to my barn for a couple of years now. It was very steep and I needed a lot of fill. Being a cheapskate, I've been posting ads. for free fill on Craig's list and filling in as I get it (hence the 2 years+ project). Also, I've needed to install culvert pipe and waited until I found what I needed used in the classifieds.

Well, I'm finally coming to the end of the construction before adding gravel. So far I've moved about 400 tons of dirt, rock, and broken concrete, and installed 39' of culvert pipe with my littlel ol CK25. This little tractor has worked amazingly good. The loader behind the weight of this machine has performed superbly. Even when some of the fill was mostly large dificult rubble, the loader handled it well. The scraper blade has worked well shaping and forming the driveway, although it is too steep to use going up the hill. And the backhoe has been invaluable at digging the huge trench for the culvert pipe.

Photos attached. The rocks used in the discharge end of the culvert were all mixed in with dirt. Because I didn't want any dirt in the culvert, I had to pretty much load each rock by hand into the bucket and then dump into place. Note also how I shored up the fill bank with concrete pieces on the side.

I'm a little concerned now about erosion coming down the drive. It's a lot steeper than it looks in the photos and is complicated by the sharp curve at the bottom. I tried to bank the road toward the left (when looking down) so that maybe the water can be channeled into the culvert pipe. I may need some more fill to get it to flow off just right. Any suggestions as to how to handle this?

 

[Dave from GA & KY]

WOW! Now that's a project! Are you using the driveway while you're workin' on it?... If so, how are you dealing with it during rains getting up the steep parts with regular cars & trucks?

I've got something similar to get done but I can't be working on it for 2 years so I think hiring a dozer is in order for me.

Great work!

Dave

 

[Gittyup]

No, I haven't been using the driveway. It's a secondary drive. For the past 17+ years when I need to get to the barn with a truck, I have to drive through my yard accessed from my paved driveway at the house, which is what I still do. Thats ok for the truck, but the tractor makes a real mess on the lawn when wet and gets mud all over the paved drive too.

This secondary drive will allow me to get the tractor and my trailer out without going across the lawn. There are also alterior motives: the barn is on a separately deeded lot. Might want to sell some day and driveway would be a good thing, especially given how steep it was when I started. I had a couple of quotes to have the excavation and fill done. Cheapest was $10K, and several told me I was crazy for even trying it. I wish I had photos of what it looked like before I started. Straight up and down, about 15 feet high. Couldn't even take an atv up it.

Being that it's a convenience thing, I'm in no big hurry to finish this drive, and I only work on it when I can get free fill or cheap pipe. So, it's been a pretty casual project, but one that requires a brute of a tractor to accomplish. This is why I chose Kioti over the others - best earth mover in its size.

When it rains, no way can I go on it, not even on the tractor. It's just about 100% clay right now. Just turns to mush when wet.

 

[rd_macgregor]

It looks like you did a really nice job.
Did you find a good way to compact the fill so it wouldn't settle/slump over time?
If you can ever get access to a few dozen yards of coarse gravel (say, as coarse as drainage gravel) a few inches on top of that clay would make all the difference in the world for traction in wet weather and to minimize rutting.
I think you are right to try to get the drainage to go to the inside and then down the culvert (though you have a pretty good rock cover on the outside slope,too!). The only risk I can see there is with sediment/debris blocking the culvert entrance after heavy rains...you may have to clear it out a time or three over the first few years.
Are you in a place where it snows much? That would be some wild driveway covered in ice!!

BOB

 

[Gittyup]

I have no good way to compact the soil other than my 5500 lb tractor. Of course, the tractor has been up and down that drive a bazillion times hauling dirt and scraping. Once I get it contoured just right, I plan to place down geotextile and cover with 6 - 8" of crush-n-run. Most of the fill has been in place for 6 months to a year now, and I plan on letting it settle until next spring before I put down the cnr. One good thing is that it is pretty much all clay; almost no stone or loam. So it should compact good over a very short time.

 

[Cyberroc]

Great Job!

I would agree with getting compacted, if you have a TSC they have some very reasonable, 7' or larger water fill rollers (usually around $150) that would be a start if you cant rent a vibatory roller or plate compactor.

A no weight settle over a year's time most likely wont hit the compaction level that even a water fill roller can achive. I have my primary drive (hill with similar incline over distance), that I have to rework every year because prev owner did not compact it. I will be compacting it this year as I am getting ready to sell and don't want the next owner to have to worry about it.

IMO

Looks like a great job you have so far, I would compact it to save the work you have into it.

 

[MotorSeven]

Git, i have done the same type of driveway...twice. The first one has a 90 degree turn, then about a 200 foot of 30 degree climb, then another 90 degree turn. It was an existing right of way into a 46ac tract of land that we are selling. When we bought the land, the 30 degree section had a 2' gully running it's length & the drive was about 8'wide. I used the little dozer to widen it, the the CK30 w/box blade to shape it up. I sloped the drive away from the ridge, & put in two run-offs for water ro escape. I then used 0-3/8 "crusher run" gravel instead of the standard "57" rock. This was recommended by my backhoe guy who said that the larger rock on that slope would move around too much from the veh tires, then wash out during a big rain. The crusher run is about 40% sand & 60% 3/8 rock. The combo really packed down hard & in 9 months i have only had run the box lightly over it twice.

I also put in a new drive that has a 20+ degree slope & used the same rock mix. I agree on the packing recommendations because the rain has really washed the un-packed dirt away in several places taking everything with it.

I have started using the sand/small rock mix for just about everything since, & find that $4 a ton vs $8.25 for "57" rock it's a no brainer.

RD

 

[Gittyup]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Motor, I am surprised that smaller sized cnr works better than larger. I estimate that I need about 210 tons of cnr to give me a 6" layer. I was thinking 1.5" cnr for the first 2 inches and then 3/4" cnr for the top coat. Perhaps my thinking is all wrong. I'll have to do more research and pondering before I do this.

i had also given thought to a roller. But, I don't see how the roller would be more effective than just my tractor. The tractor weighs 5500 lbs with the backhoe on and applies this weight over a much smaller surface area than would a roller. Roller weight would not even come close to 5500 lbs, I don't think. A vibratory machine might do the trick. But it sure sounds like a lot of work.

 

[EddieWalker]

Very ambitious project!!!!! Nicely done too.

I wouldn't worry about compaction since you are not planning on paving it or building on it. Proper compaction for building on is rather complicated and detailed, but for what you are doing, it's not something that you need to worry about. Especially with the amount of time that you have into it. THe biggest issue with compaction is the speed in what it has to be done. If dirt is left sitting long enough, it will compact by itself over time.

Worse case scenerio is that when it rains, you will get a soft spot and sink into it, or create ruts. Putting a crown on the road to shed water off of it as quickly as possible with do more to make the road last then just about anything else Water is always the enemy, so getting rid of it is always your first priority.

The gravel should be of a variety of sizes so that it will lock together to form a solid unit that will shed water and withstand wear from traffic. Four inches is the minimum needed, but more is always better. The rock has to become a solid mass without any open areas to work properly. Jaged edges on needed as well as fines to fill in the voids. Once it's set, the fastest way to ruin a gravel road is to box blade it and cut it down. I know allot of people here do this, but all they are accomplishing is making the rock thinner until it fails and no longer locks together.

Eddie

 

[CurlyDave]

I have a steep driveway -- 15 to 18% slope in places. I asked for geotextile, but when the contractor put it on the steepest parts, the rock had a tendency to just slide off.

I ended up with rock over dirt on the steepest parts, and rock over geotextile on the less steep parts. It has held up well.