Geotextile fabric or Railroad ballast?

[RadarTech]

Ouch! That means a 6-12" thick base before you can start to put smaller stuff on it. That would take one heck of a lot of stone.

With that size and thickness of the base rock, I wonder if the fabric is even necessary. When we widened our drive, there was a lot of soft clay and the #4 (2") crushed stone that the contractor put down disappeared pretty quickly. I pushed him for some #2 (3-4", which he didn't know existed) and 6" of that made a good solid base that locked together and held just fine.

I guess if you have a real marsh, then the fabric would still help.

Ken

Check this:
Driveway Fabric - US Fabrics

Add crusher run or crush and run only...
and 6in of that...

that is alot cheaper than 4-5 inch of ballast and then the crusher run on top....

J

 

[jdonovan]

Ouch! That means a 6-12" thick base before you can start to put smaller stuff on it. That would take one heck of a lot of stone.

No. That means READ THE DIRECTIONS for the fabric you are going to use.

The product I'm looking at using indicated no base rock is needed. The first lift can be 6" of 3/4 minus with fines.

So net-net no additional rock needed vs. a standard (for my area), and the hope that it should be much more resistant to being pushed into the base soil by heavy trucks(ups/fedex), or by passenger cars if the ground is wet.

 

[dmccarty]

Our driveway with fabric and at best 4 inches of ABC easily handled loaded cement trucks, log hauling trucks, construction traffic, including may loads of bricks and many, many trucks with ABC and 67 stone. I think those trucks were running 50-65,000 pounds.

The heaviest traffic was over a four to six month period.

Our road by comparison was tore to pieces by a logging operation that took three to five days. Some pretty bad ruts that the tractor fixed. :thumbsup:

The driveway was perfectly fine after the house was built which is why we did not add gravel.

Later,
Dan

 

[RadarTech]

Ok I'm tired and can't think.. What is abc again?

 

[dmccarty]

Ok I'm tired and can't think.. What is abc again?

The Alphabet?

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

ABC is a type of gravel in NC. It is what is used for road base. It has maybe 3 inch stone down to fines. 67 stone is mostly 2-3 inch rock but no fines. The fines/dust locks the stones into place. No stones and the rock can move around.

A B C D E F G....



I think ABC is 3,000 pound per yard if it is to DOT spec. DOT spec being the right amount of moisture, aka, not too wet, not too dry but just right. :laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[RadarTech]

The Alphabet?

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

ABC is a type of gravel in NC. It is what is used for road base. It has maybe 3 inch stone down to fines. 67 stone is mostly 2-3 inch rock but no fines. The fines/dust locks the stones into place. No stones and the rock can move around.

A B C D E F G....



I think ABC is 3,000 pound per yard if it is to DOT spec. DOT spec being the right amount of moisture, aka, not too wet, not too dry but just right. :laughing:

Later,
Dan

Thanks goldilocks!

Btw where are you in nc?

 

[The dirt doctor]

We only use fabric when the subsoil, or dirt, is pumping or soft. If you proof roll the subsoil with a loaded tandem or tri axle dump and have no movement, I wouldn't worry with the cloth. Also look into recycled asphalt or concrete products as opposed to a crusher run. Not millings, but a trench backfill or rc-6. Then can be a good bit cheaper. We pay $6 a ton. 8" of any of these materials should be sufficient.

 

[dmccarty]

Thanks goldilocks!

Btw where are you in nc?

I used to have golden, flowing hair. Sorta.

Now it is more of a foamy sea color.

Raleigh/Durham area of NC. Where the soil, cough, cough, is good for making bricks and pots. :laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

We only use fabric when the subsoil, or dirt, is pumping or soft. If you proof roll the subsoil with a loaded tandem or tri axle dump and have no movement, I wouldn't worry with the cloth. Also look into recycled asphalt or concrete products as opposed to a crusher run. Not millings, but a trench backfill or rc-6. Then can be a good bit cheaper. We pay $6 a ton. 8" of any of these materials should be sufficient.

Recycled asphalt or concrete would work but one has to look at the trucking cost. The last loads I had delivered cost me $65 an hour for the truck. Material was extra. If I need ABC the quarry is close enough that the truck can make 2 or maybe 3 loads per hour depending on how fast the quarry is moving that day. The only places that might have recycled material would be a two hour round trip.

I THINK the ABC cost me $10-12 a ton but that was a few years ago. I looked for my scale receipts but I could not find them the other night. I know they are some where.

Later,
Dan