GeoTextile Fabric: other brands? any driveway advice?

[mustangsallysdad]

See my experience is that I could put down stuff the size of my fist and as soft as my clay is, it would press it in the ground the first time I drive over it. One winter and it would all be gone. I know that's building the base but I'd rather put down fabric and put a heavy layer of crusher run on it, compact it......call it a day.

Or at least this is what makes sense to me...

I'm not so sure crusher run alone on top of a geotextile base would provide the stability that you are looking for...you may want to think about making this a 2 year process...put down a couple of lifts of 1 1/2-2" stone now and in the fall and allow it to settle and gain some compaction from vehicular traffic and then next spring place your fabric and final aggregates. I believe, based on my experience, you will have a much more stable final surface that will require less maintenance.

 

[Ken45101]

I've heard that fabric gives to heavy single wheel vehicles (such as a horse trailer) whereas dual wheels do better.

Myself, I've done well putting down #2 crushed limestone (3") and letting it pack in, then putting something smaller on top. This was on a steep drive with wet clay soil. Anything smaller just sunk and disappeared.

Ken

 

[LBrown59]

1*elaborate on the 30' culvert......
2*also, how is bank run different than the crusher run? i

1*You need a 40 foot wide apron at the end of the drive to allow enough room to turn in and out of the driveway.
2*Here bank run is unwashed gravel.

There's woven and non-woven geo.
1*Make sure you get the right stuff.

1* So is what is the right stuff woven or non-woven?

1*What makes you think you will need to use fabric at all ?
I have put in several roads over the past 35 yrs. or so and only used fabric on one that bordered a wet land area and it has worked out fine. Another road was 1,200 ft. long with a graded red clay base and I put in crusher run 4" deep and added to it about every 5 yrs. or so but it packed like concrete. I grade it once a year with a box blade. Unless you have a really wet situation I for one do not see why you need the fabric especially if you put a crown on the road and keep in mind since you are going through the woods and your road will be tree lined , any roots you are digging up putting in the new road will likely cause the trees nearest the road to die in time so you may want to use caution how deeply you set your bucket or blade as you grade..

1*I thought fabric was just for soft spots or where there are drainage issues.

 

[powerstroke444e]

I have done many driveways with and with out fabric and the ones with out fabric seem like they use twice the rock and were back out there every year adding a couple of loads and regrading it.

This years was the worse in a long time as we had frost down to about 14" and it warmed up for a week and we had a layer of mud, above the frost then it refroze for a couple of weeks and it happened again. Some of the oil chip township roads are still almost unusable in anything other than a 4wd.

The drive I redid in december that was all mud we put fabric down and 6" of recycled asphalt has held up very well & he has loaded trucks in and out all the time.
Use the fabric and it possible rent a roller to compact the dirt 1st then compact all the material on top of the fabric.

 

[brin]

1*You need a 40 foot wide apron at the end of the drive to allow enough room to turn in and out of the driveway.
2*Here bank run is unwashed gravel.


1* So is what is the right stuff woven or non-woven?



1*I thought fabric was just for soft spots or where there are drainage issues.

LBrown........You are exactly right...the only time I used fabric was on a 75' section of a 400 ' road I was putting in...that 75' section bordered a wet land area and was always soggy so I used the fabric only there and then I used crusher run at 4 inches thick and now some 8 yrs. later there is no difference between the road where I used the fabric and the other part of the road where there was none used..I still have the same amount of gravel on both sections and it has worked out well. The fabric solved a problem we had on that 75' section but I would never have used it unless there had been a water problem and the road base for the whole road when I put it in was moist Georgia red clay...still no gravel loss to speak of on this road.

 

[forester2]

A 40' culvert would be nice if you have tractor trailers going in and out, however I've had every other type of truck I can think of get in and out just fine with a 30' pipe including all sorts of equipment trailers. I prefer as short a pipe as possible because of the tendency of pipes around here to collect siltation requiring their eventual replacement if not maintained.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

i only own a 30' wide strip about 300' long that connects to a 50x50' square then that leads on to the 43 acre square.....

I may be able to get about 33' wide because the road isn't perpendicular to the 30'......it's at a slight angle.......

A 40' culvert would be nice if you have tractor trailers going in and out, however I've had every other type of truck I can think of get in and out just fine with a 30' pipe including all sorts of equipment trailers. I prefer as short a pipe as possible because of the tendency of pipes around here to collect siltation requiring their eventual replacement if not maintained.

 

[Jeff244]

You mentioned that you have soft clay and that you are only putting in 4" of stone. I don't think that will work very well. You would be better off digging deeper (thereby removing some more of the soft clay) and putting in about 8" total. 4" of no.3 (3" stone) and 4" of the crushed limestone. The 3" stone helps to disperse the weight. If you only put 4" of stone over soft clay I doubt that it will ever bond together properly because the soft clay will allow movement, especially when it is wet out or there is light frost in the ground. It will be especially bad in the spring as the ground thaws. The 3" stone helps to disperse the weight. The fabric is ok, but it really doesn't add much if anything structural to the driveway, although it does keep the clay from mixing with the stone. I guess what I am saying about the fabric is that it does helps some but does not make up for a poor subgrade or allow you to use less stone, in my opinion.

Jeff

 

[moeh1]

I have about 400' with the fabric. I put in 210 ton to go that far, but a little wider. 12 feet wide for 1000' may be skinny depending on how much traffic and what your terrain looks like. I had the choice of 12' or 15' or 18' rolls. I went 15 ' wide and with my slope and curves, its none to wide. Each roll cost the same and contained the same square footage ( so the wide rolls are shorter). I think the 15' stuff was a little less than $1 per foot. You might want to check some additional sources to get the best options and prices. I'm glad I put it in, I figured less than 2 loads of stone would have to disappear to equal the fabric price and I didn't want the aggravation of trying to fix/maintain the driveway.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

how deep did you put lay it in there?

i like the 15' wide idea......

I have about 400' with the fabric. I put in 210 ton to go that far, but a little wider. 12 feet wide for 1000' may be skinny depending on how much traffic and what your terrain looks like. I had the choice of 12' or 15' or 18' rolls. I went 15 ' wide and with my slope and curves, its none to wide. Each roll cost the same and contained the same square footage ( so the wide rolls are shorter). I think the 15' stuff was a little less than $1 per foot. You might want to check some additional sources to get the best options and prices. I'm glad I put it in, I figured less than 2 loads of stone would have to disappear to equal the fabric price and I didn't want the aggravation of trying to fix/maintain the driveway.