gravel driveway refresh

[Egon]

Do Googling on road construction! There are lots of sites that give good advice.

http://www.ruralhometech.com/fr/ditch.php

One of many sites!

 

[gemini5362]

I would not want to use large rock because you will get voids between them.
go with material that can be compacted. Are the soft spots caused by being wet or where they just not compacted when you made the driveway.

I dont know what caused them to be honest. The driveway was constructed with a d6 and he ran over it several times to compact it . The first rain we had several spots were pretty soft when I tried to drive a car over it. I made a roller out of a 55 gallon drum filled with concrete and have been useing it to compact the driveway and that seems to have improved conditions. I was going to use some kind of rock for a base while I am saving my money to pour concrete. From what I am seeing here it sounds like I probably want to use 3/4 inch gravel. We have a steel mill locally and there is someone that hauls slag for driveways. I was going to get that but the guy told me that If i was going to lay concrete the slag would react with the concrete and he recommended that I not use it.

 

[Defective]

The driveway was constructed with a d6 and he ran over it several times to compact it.

Here's the cause...

You say it was constructed with a D6.

No material added to bring the road surface above grade? This means the driveway acts like a ditch & water will tend to pool in it.

He "compacted" the driveway with a D6? That don't work! The main reason to build a heavy machine on tracks is to spread the load out over as much area as possible. I'd be surprised if your homemade roller doesn't compact your driveway more than that dozer did.

 

[gemini5362]

I am sorry I am not on familiar ground so to speak in this area and I am afraid sometimes I leave important stuff out. The dozer operator made the driveway in the middle of about a 2 acre area. I had him level the area before he did the driveway and then he built the driveway up and compacted it continuing to add material as he compacted it. He also cut ditches so the water would run alongside the driveway and not into it. The driveway was part of a dirt ramp that gradually ramps up to my garage which is built up on one side about 36 inches because of the grade that the garage is built on. the grade is about 60 feet long and the rest of the driveway is about 140 feet down to the county road.

 

[dirtworksequip]

gemini, there would be no problem using the mill slag. The problem he is refering to (I think) is that if slag is fresh all the gasses have not escaped from it. Thus causing some problem with the concrete. If you are not planning to concrete right away. No problem. The mill slag will way out preform any natural stone. But do what you think is right for you.

 

[gemini5362]

gemini, there would be no problem using the mill slag. The problem he is refering to (I think) is that if slag is fresh all the gasses have not escaped from it. Thus causing some problem with the concrete. If you are not planning to concrete right away. No problem. The mill slag will way out preform any natural stone. But do what you think is right for you.

I used to work in the steel mill where they are getting it from so I know that it is fresh. I have a friend who used it and he said the same thing you did that it worked better than anything he had used. I am not sure when I am going to concrete. That is a mixture of finding the time to do it and the weather. If I use the slag how long will I have to wait before I could put concrete over it ?

 

[Defective]

gemini,

So...your basically saying the driveway is all above the surrounding grade...this is good.

You still have the problem of low compaction. Like I said before, the dozer is designed to avoid compacting what it runs over.

I wouldn't worry too much about this though. If the soft spots are real bad, you might think about digging some of the material out & replacing it with gravel or slag. Put it in in layers and compact as you go. Then put a good layer over the whole thing. I like to use crusher run personally as the fines help it compact into a solid surface. Make sure you crown the driveway and it should stay dry & solid.

If I'm reading this right, you now have 200 feet of driveway. That's a lot of concrete. Have you thought about just putting an apron in front of the garage?

 

[JimMorrissey]

Yep, I've laid down about 20 tandems (18 ton or so) of "surepak". Basically 3/4" minus material that does indeed pack like concrete. Just don't want to over-rake or grade it too much....That'll seperate the stone from the fines and leave a layer of loose rock on the top to deal with.

 

[mike69440]

Yep, I've laid down about 20 tandems (18 ton or so) of "surepak". Basically 3/4" minus material that does indeed pack like concrete. Just don't want to over-rake or grade it too much....That'll seperate the stone from the fines and leave a layer of loose rock on the top to deal with.

Darn,

I used a lot of on -site rock & clay to build up my base and at least 25 Tri Axle loads of 5" Minus, 2" Minus, 1-1/2 stone Ledge Pack and dust so far and I'm only a third done!
Next year I will be using the big rocks from blasting as a base, fill with 5" Minus grade with a bit of Lege pack & Stone. lay 2 or three rols of geo-fabric and cover with 1-1/2 stone on the edges and Leged pack in the center.

 

[gemini5362]

If I'm reading this right, you now have 200 feet of driveway. That's a lot of concrete. Have you thought about just putting an apron in front of the garage?[/QUOTE]


Yes I do have a 10 foot apron on it now. I plan to put a 10 foot extension to that apron giveing me a 20 x 44 area to turn around on and place to drive straight out of the driveway onto. I am going to gradually bring the 44 foot width down to 12 feet and then make the rest of the driveway 12 feet wide to the road.

Actually I believe you are absolutely right about the issue being compaction. I rolled my homemade roller over it and that helped some. We have been driving on it now every day with 3 different vehicles. We had a huge storm yesterday probably about 6 inches of rain and When I drove on the driveway today it was not that soft.

Locally they use a rock that is probably in the 1 to 1/5 inch with crusher dust mixed in with it. I used that on my front porch for fill under the slab. When it gets wet the crusher dust allows it to pack very tight almost like concrete. I am probably going to use that for a base and then pour my driveway. over that later. My plans now are to pour my driveway in sections 12 feet wide by 20 feet long. That wont be too bad on my wallet and most importantly on my back.