Gravel Yard Way Mud

[summit151]

Ahh---the good old Drayton Valley mud yes. Slippery sticky stuff that. Come spring you got a couple of inches of it tracked all over the town streets. It even seems to follow one into the house after it sucks your gumboots off.

Notice the dually tracks didn't sink down? Just made marks in the grease.

Your all okay. Just keep adding crushed gravel as affordable. Keep the surface smooth and sloped so it drains. Come summer it'll look like concrete.

You may notice all the roads in your area are made from packed clay with crushed gravel on top. Large rock may be hard to come by or require long hauls. It wil not work as well as crushed in your area.

Worst time will be in the spring when the frost is going out. That's when the road weight restrictions come into effect.

Yes it is a terrible sticky mud around here for some reason! I have noticed all the roads were built with packed clay and that is why I built my yard and drive way that way but I'm starting to think I built it wrong with the responses and ideas from people. It's only soft in some spots in the spring and yes that dually is the 14000lbs truck so it's heavy

 

[summit151]

Rock/base will continue to sink until it reaches the bottom of the clay. This has the inverse affect as well- it will push the clay up. This will not make the desired base.

If you have clay and it is used to make a road simply place the fabric between the clay and 5-6" of imported road material. 5-6" is a driveway quality driving surface. More imported material would be required for a public road or highway etc. I'm sure your municipality's road spec has the fabric layer.

Ok so if I layed the fabric out in some of the soft spots on top of my existing base and added 2" inch crush about 5 " thick? Would the crushed gravel bind and lock together on top of the fabric? The crushed gravel around here is a mix of sand and rock

 

[RNeumann]

Ok so if I layed the fabric out in some of the soft spots on top of my existing base and added 2" inch crush about 5 " thick? Would the crushed gravel bind and lock together on top of the fabric? The crushed gravel around here is a mix of sand and rock

Yes 2" is fine and start with a few of the soft spots. The material should be rock and rock dust or fines (technically not sand). You can move to smaller rock toward the top so it's easier to spread. Say 1" rock for the top 1-2". This isn't necessarily- it's up to you and the look you want.

 

[Egon]

Yes it is a terrible sticky mud around here for some reason! I have noticed all the roads were built with packed clay and that is why I built my yard and drive way that way but I'm starting to think I built it wrong with the responses and ideas from people. It's only soft in some spots in the spring and yes that dually is the 14000lbs truck so it's heavy

Nothing wrong with the way you built it.

Properly packed clay with good drainage makes for a good base. It is almost impervious.

 

[KYErik]

I also vote for the fabric- I have been using it over the last few years and have become a fan. Put it on top of what you have done so far. It will save you a lot of money and tons of gravel in the long run.

 

[Billrog]

Fabric is for containing the gravel when going across swamps or swamp areas. Once you have a decent gravel base the water will no longer migrate through the surface and your road will be rock solid.

 

[hawkeye08]

We fed our gravel driveway more gravel each year and dealt with ruts and getting stuck in wet spring until we tore it out, put fabric down and then gravel. Our clay goes down more than 4 feet so not sure how we would "get rid of the clay" as some have suggested. Since putting the fabric in, we no longer had to add more gravel each year, had asphalt put down on it a few years ago, holding up very nice.

 

[Billrog]

One thing I did fail to mention there are many types of clay in light silty clay it turns to soup the min. water hits it and water can migrate horizontally to some degree allowing the gravel to squeeze out or get pushed out of sight. Blocky clay can become a problem if it drys out and opens cracks for the water to get under the rd. base. There are others eg. loamy clay, sandy clay another words we have to know what kind of clay before giving sound advice for which I'm as guilty of as the next. Drayton Valley is noted for heavy sticky clay which is almost water permeable. I took for granted this may be the case and gave advice based on that which would do just fine with a raised crowned gravel road.

 

[summit151]

One thing I did fail to mention there are many types of clay in light silty clay it turns to soup the min. water hits it and water can migrate horizontally to some degree allowing the gravel to squeeze out or get pushed out of sight. Blocky clay can become a problem if it drys out and opens cracks for the water to get under the rd. base. There are others eg. loamy clay, sandy clay another words we have to know what kind of clay before giving sound advice for which I'm as guilty of as the next. Drayton Valley is noted for heavy sticky clay which is almost water permeable. I took for granted this may be the case and gave advice based on that which would do just fine with a raised crowned gravel road.

Yes the clay is a very tacky and heavy. We also have clay 12 ft down so going deeper then the clay is no good. I did pack all the clay with a big ride on vibratory packer before the gravel

 

[Egon]

Yes the clay is a very tacky and heavy. We also have clay 12 ft down so going deeper then the clay is no good. I did pack all the clay with a big ride on vibratory packer before the gravel

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

You did real good. If required just add more crushed gravel?

You've got real nice clay. Gets rained on you can't move. Sun comes out and two hours later you're making dust.

Yes, I have had the privilege of experiencing you clay first hand!