FTG-05
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2011
- Messages
- 2,588
- Location
- TN
- Tractor
- Kubota L4330 GST w/FEL, Kubota RTV-XG850, Kubota ZD326S
I live at the end of a one mile gravel. Since I moved here in late 2013, I've been maintaining the road as have the previous owners of my property (the only owners of a tractor).
I finally was able to get out and do some work after all the rain we've had the last 6 months. In that 6 very rainy months, a lot of potholes developed. So I took my BB teeth to dig down and break the hard pan and get down to the bottom of the holes - as I normally do every spring. I did this on Wednesday. On Thursday, while using my rock rake to smooth and groom the road, I ran into one of my neighbor's. We started talking and he said he and his wife had been going down the road and filling the potholes with concrete and then raking gravel over them. Of course, when I took my BB down the road, it dug up and broke up all the concrete he had put down. He made it sound like a lot of concrete - when I asked him to show me, we only found a couple 6-8 inch pieces.
I asked him if he planned to concrete the whole road (of course not). I explained that filling potholes doesn't really solve the problem of why potholes formed in the first place (i.e. usually water) plus it prevents maintaining the road - which entails more than just filling potholes. And, as we found out here, maintaining the road will just tear them out.
I've reviewed a couple gravel road maintenance .pdfs I have including 003-07-NPS-gravelroads-sec1 (that is it's saved title, there is no title page), and Gravel Road Maintenance Manual (Maine DEP and Bureau of Land and Water Quality). The first doesn't mention concrete at all; the 2nd only in the context of crushed concrete.
When I started this gravel road work years ago, I spent a lot of time both here and on YT learning how to maintain my road. In all that time, I have never read or seen anyone mention filling potholes with concrete as a solution to gravel road maintenance.
Comments, suggestions?
I finally was able to get out and do some work after all the rain we've had the last 6 months. In that 6 very rainy months, a lot of potholes developed. So I took my BB teeth to dig down and break the hard pan and get down to the bottom of the holes - as I normally do every spring. I did this on Wednesday. On Thursday, while using my rock rake to smooth and groom the road, I ran into one of my neighbor's. We started talking and he said he and his wife had been going down the road and filling the potholes with concrete and then raking gravel over them. Of course, when I took my BB down the road, it dug up and broke up all the concrete he had put down. He made it sound like a lot of concrete - when I asked him to show me, we only found a couple 6-8 inch pieces.
I asked him if he planned to concrete the whole road (of course not). I explained that filling potholes doesn't really solve the problem of why potholes formed in the first place (i.e. usually water) plus it prevents maintaining the road - which entails more than just filling potholes. And, as we found out here, maintaining the road will just tear them out.
I've reviewed a couple gravel road maintenance .pdfs I have including 003-07-NPS-gravelroads-sec1 (that is it's saved title, there is no title page), and Gravel Road Maintenance Manual (Maine DEP and Bureau of Land and Water Quality). The first doesn't mention concrete at all; the 2nd only in the context of crushed concrete.
When I started this gravel road work years ago, I spent a lot of time both here and on YT learning how to maintain my road. In all that time, I have never read or seen anyone mention filling potholes with concrete as a solution to gravel road maintenance.
Comments, suggestions?