Installing new driveway - suggestions on base

[jim_wilson]

One of the first projects I have undertaken with my new BX23 is to dig out for the new driveway I am running down the side of the house back to where the new garage will be. I have the area pretty well cleared out and now have a wide trench about 2ft deep or more. Had to dig it out that much to get rid of all the topsoil, roots from felled trees etc. before I got down to non organic type soil. My question is however what should I be putting down for a base now that I have to fill this area back in to get the grade back up to where I want the driveway to be? I do plan on eventually paving the driveway but it will probably be a year or more before I do this. I have read a lot here and there - some say just gravel and then pavement, some say layer of gravel , then 3/4 stone, then pavemen , etc. This is in Massachusetts so it will have to stand up to the freeze thaw cycle. I am looking for suggestions on what is the best way to lay a base for a good long lasting driveway.

 

[Junkman]

The paving contractor that I used uses a mixture of 50% stone dust and 50% 3/4" stone mixed together. This is a mix that he makes up in his yard. It packs tightly and is the best base that I have seen. One problem in New England is the rocks. You never know when a large boulder is going to be pushed up by the frost. My driveway is about 8 - 10 years old and I have a base of this mixture. I never had a problem until last winter, when the boulders that were down deep, started to come to the surface. So far, we have cut out 3 spots and removed the boulders. There are about 6 or 8 more that will have to be done before the final driveway top coat is placed. Last winter, we had frost into the ground about 4'. This is a 50 year record for this part of the country. If you have any doubts about the sub soil having large rocks in it, now is the time to get them out. If you are not paving for a while, then you can dig the sub soil looking for them and then put the sub soil back in place. It will settle on its own in a year or two with the stone dust/stone mixture on top. Better to find those rocks now, rather than after you pave. Don't skimp on materials, the cost you save will be back to haunt you in the future. The problem with a lot of the gravel that is delivered, it has a large amount of clay mixed in with it. I learned from experiance when I had to remove almost all of what my "gravel" driveway consisted of. I paid to purchase it when I built the house, and I paid to truck it away when I paved the driveway. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[jim_wilson]

I has seen that stone dust / 3/4 stone mix suggested other places too. Since I have dug out about 2 feet of tree roots, topsoil etc to get down to where there is no topsoil I will have to fill in about 2 feet or more to get me back up to grade - I figure 2 feet of whatever I use for fill ought to be enough to keep any rocks from moving up thru the driveway. This will remain unpaved for at least a year probably more as I build a garage and bring in big cement trucks, lumber deliveries, etc. so the base I put down will have ample time to get compacted before I lay down the pavement.

 

[Soundguy]

If your planning on paving it.. do yourself a favor... Put down limerock.. or at very minimum.. red sandy clay.. though red sandy clay is only abit cheaper than limerock.

Roadbuilding accounts for about 75% of the money the GC I work for brings in.

Pavement over gravel is iffy.

A good compacted base will give you lots of options. If you don't want to pave it.. you could slag it. ( kinda like chip sealing.. on a large scale ). Road is tack coated.. then coarse gravel laid down.. then tacked again.. then fine gravel... roll, and then brush off the excess. Makes a surface -almost- as good as asphalt.

Also.. whatever you do put down as a base.. put it down in lifts and compact seperately.

Soundguy

 

[ByronBob]

Jim they did me driveway last year but I had issues beyond I think your situation. My story is this........

Excavator moved the topsoil like you about 2 foot deep. He then laid in what he called gable stone. It's big stone which is softball size or bigger. This was a foundation layer where the road was wet from all the rain he rolled out permeable felt down to allow water movement. He then put in a middle layer stone, the type you skip across water or throw as a kid. Not sure what it's called (Midsize stone). Covered the whole thing with crush and it's held up good. I will need to bring some stone in to fill a few low spots but I feel he did a good job and it's holding up well.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color="blue"> "put it down in lifts" </font>

Would that be something a Midwesterner might call 'layers' instead?

 

[Soundguy]

Not sure about 'midwestern' but you could say in 'laymans' terms it would be a layer.

Soundguy

 

[herdfan]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( you could slag it. ( kinda like chip sealing.. on a large scale ). Road is tack coated.. then coarse gravel laid down.. then tacked again.. then fine gravel... roll, and then brush off the excess. Makes a surface -almost- as good as asphalt. )</font>

Soundguy,

Is this also known as a "chip and tar" driveway? I have read about these where you use the asphalt tar (no petroleum?) and gravel and the result is a nice-looking, durable, and "self healing" road.

 

[Soundguy]

Probably similar.. just different regional lingo. The term 'slag roadway' is used in all of the county and DOT ref manuals I've used.. but again.. that's stat/county regional. principle sounds the same. We use a bituminous liquid asphaltic emulsion, which really isn't tar.. but looks like it, and then it is graveled in two layears with coarse, then fine, after another tack coat is applied. It may or may not be sanded after graveling, just depends ont he contractor.. and the type/size of fines used.

They make a great roadway for much cheaper than asphalt. Many of our low use roads int he sourounding counties are slagged.. saves taxpayer money, and homeowner property tax when this can be done. I've seen slag roads in this area hold up similar to asphalted roads, in years/survival/repair rate.

Soundguy

 

[TC18guy]

If there are not issues with soils, draingae, etc, I think I would just bring in enough sandy fill to bring the driveway up to within about 6" of final grade then spread about 3-4" of crushed driveway stone on top of that. I'd compact it the best you can and let it weather a winter or two to settle. Let the apshalt contractor worry about the rest when you're ready to pave it. They will bring out whatever equipment and materials they need to finish the job. Take care to consider drainage, it's easy for a new driveway to become like a dam and block waterflow across the yard.