Geotextile fabric or Railroad ballast?

[RadarTech]

I would make your overall grading wider by at least three-four feet on each side of the drive. I'm not sure I am picturing what you mean by "4' removed by 10' wide". But, it sounds like a narrow slot. You need free space for water drainage down and off the drive and a place for it to run for good results. And then there's room needed for snow plowing too maybe.
Dave.

The part of the driveway that I mean by the 4x10 part is that section is 10 feet wide, and the grader will be pulling out 4 feet of dirt 10 feet wide..

It can only be 10 feet wide because it was dug out of a bank to start with.
The high side of that bank is 15 feet higher than the road, and the drop off is 15 feet lower than the drive..
So it is little more than a road carved out of the side of a mountain.

 

[dave1949]

The part of the driveway that I mean by the 4x10 part is that section is 10 feet wide, and the grader will be pulling out 4 feet of dirt 10 feet wide..

It can only be 10 feet wide because it was dug out of a bank to start with.
The high side of that bank is 15 feet higher than the road, and the drop off is 15 feet lower than the drive..
So it is little more than a road carved out of the side of a mountain.

I see, thanks. No experience with that sort of terrain. 10' is not much if you are concerned about getting 8 to 8 1/2 feet wide delivery, fire, etc trucks in.

But, I am guessing yours won't be the only one in your area, they are probably used to it
Dave.

 

[JB4310]

The part of the driveway that I mean by the 4x10 part is that section is 10 feet wide, and the grader will be pulling out 4 feet of dirt 10 feet wide..

It can only be 10 feet wide because it was dug out of a bank to start with.
The high side of that bank is 15 feet higher than the road, and the drop off is 15 feet lower than the drive..
So it is little more than a road carved out of the side of a mountain.

Sounds like good drainage on the sides is gonna pay off more than geo underneath?

Geo under is most helpful for poor soil conditions in low slope areas, and IMO will not make up for poor storm water run off management.

If done right there should be no water under that drive, with such grade to work with, geo textile shouldn't be needed. JMO.

JB.

 

[Jstpssng]

I wish I had put it in mine before I started graveling. Instead I just keep buying gravel every few years. We use it on woods roads alot when going through wet areas. You don't want to go off the road, or you'll sink out of sight.

 

[dmccarty]

I wish I had put it in mine before I started graveling. Instead I just keep buying gravel every few years. We use it on woods roads alot when going through wet areas. You don't want to go off the road, or you'll sink out of sight.

The private road we live on is just barely graveled. It was graveled by the developer 30 years ago and no gravel has been added since then. Right now with all of the wet weather the road is in bad shape. Pots holes and the gravel is nowhere to be seen....

But the gravel is still there. I just have to put the teeth down on the box blade, rip the heck out of the road, pull the teeth back up, and smooth it all back out. The gravel reappears. I have done this a couple of times over the last 10 years. We do need more gravel on the road but nobody wants to pay for it. If we added a 3-4 inches over 300-400 feet we could get the water to flow off the gravel.

Can you just rip the road with a box blade and smooth it back out?

Later,
Dan

 

[RadarTech]

I see, thanks. No experience with that sort of terrain. 10' is not much if you are concerned about getting 8 to 8 1/2 feet wide delivery, fire, etc trucks in.

But, I am guessing yours won't be the only one in your area, they are probably used to it
Dave.

Yep...
My wifes cousin is the deputy fire chief and his land is next to ours.. And so many roads are narrow here...

 

[RadarTech]

Sounds like good drainage on the sides is gonna pay off more than geo underneath?

Geo under is most helpful for poor soil conditions in low slope areas, and IMO will not make up for poor storm water run off management.

If done right there should be no water under that drive, with such grade to work with, geo textile shouldn't be needed. JMO.

JB.

Yes and no..
The winter is when it really gets bad..
The snow stays for a period of time and melts off the upper banks.
Then it all saturates, and pumps up.

In one place I dug down 3 feet and found all kinds of gravel..
Another dug 3 with the tractor and then as far down as possible with a post hole digger and never found gravel. A relative told me that on the lower driveway the are spots where it took several dump truck loads to stabilize 20 foot sections.
Some of the banks keep falling down and filling the culverts.
It has flowed over and washed out edges...

If I can get a base, then maybe I can stop the pumping...

 

[RadarTech]

Can you just rip the road with a box blade and smooth it back out?

Later,
Dan

I tried that, but there is 8 inches of mud the base just sunk in...

 

[rdoiron]

We had a 1200 foot driveway built last summer with the first 600 feet going through a swampy section over a wet clay base. The builder used a 12 foot wide membrane with 4-6 inch crushed rock 2-3 feet deep followed by 6 inches of 3/4 gravel. Total of over 100 22 ton loads.

The road has not moved an inch, no potholes or any detectable depressions. That is with a full summer of construction traffic including concrete mixers.

Membranes are highly recommended if crossing unstable ground.

 

[Mounted Madness]

Our soil here is heavy wet clay.

Acts like glue, dries to rock, and eats gravel year 'round.

Around here, geo cloth is sop in all applications where gravel base is used on new roads.

Clay seems to have an insatiable appetite for any gravel on top of it.

If you have major wet/dry conditions, soft or clay soil, use the geo cloth.

At least you'll still see your gravel 10 years from now, since it'll still be on top of the geo cloth. :thumbsup: