Need help with driveway

[romanerin2011]

Mercy, now that's a rear blade, how much that rig cost? I only have a 7' county line blade. I walked on the driveway earlier today to assess the damage and I can walk on the clay without sinking so maybe it just needs to dry out some. Hoping it'll be a little drier tomorrow. So I guess you use the windrow to spill the material into low spots? I see motor graders at work just haven't been taught or trained on them yet. Should I build the crown with dirt and rock or just rock? I'm afraid the way I installed my culverts will cause them to silt in over time.

 

[TomSeller]

I have clay in my soil in some areas and, while it is hard when dry, it is like mushy grease when wet. Don't you have any other soil better suited, or have some hauled in.

 

[BuilderML]

I can't really say how much material you will need for your driveway. That all depends on your site. Your crown is all part of the driveway top. If your using"sb2" for the top thats what you make the crown with. Also not sure if its because all the rain you may have had but if your driveway is really that wet it might be wise to invest in fabric for under the driveway. If not the whole driveway at least in the wet areas. As far as the amount of material i used in mine i have about 45 tri axle loads or 750-800 yards of material as the subbase. I have not really finished it completely yet i have been driving on the subbase for over the past 5 years. In some spots i have 2'-3' of base material it depends on how much organic material i removed and how much i raised it in spots.

 

[Buppies]

A rough way to figure what amount of material that you need. Figure the area of your driveway, length times width then divide by 9. This gives you square yards. If you want 6in of compacted stone multiply square yards by 600 then divide by 2000 for pounds in tons.

100sq yds times 600 =60000lbs divided by 2000=30 tons of stone. For 8in of stone use 800 12in use 1200 and so forth. Hopefully this helps for your determination of how much stone you need. Different areas have different conditions and use different methods to bridge soft areas. And each quarry calls stone types by a regional name. Being from SW Va I would be useless in La with my recommendations

 

[romanerin2011]

Oh thanks for that formula. Where do you buy fabric for under the driveway? I guess I could have better quality clay brought in. All the roads I've seen built they use clay as a base. I almost think that my driveway will be ready to be rocked after I dress it up a little. It has a layer of stone and brick under, just when the Sheetrock was delivered they blew out the sides and it pretty much got destroyed. I thought the rear blade was used for dressing up but I guess it's kinda hard to dress up clay.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Oh thanks for that formula. Where do you buy fabric for under the driveway? I guess I could have better quality clay brought in. All the roads I've seen built they use clay as a base. I almost think that my driveway will be ready to be rocked after I dress it up a little. It has a layer of stone and brick under, just when the Sheetrock was delivered they blew out the sides and it pretty much got destroyed. I thought the rear blade was used for dressing up but I guess it's kinda hard to dress up clay.

The rear blade was about $4k 8 years ago. As far as dressing your drive, there are several implements that commonly get used on drives.

A box blade
A rear blade
A landscape rake
A land plane grading scraper

I would consider the latter 2 as general finish maintenance implements and the first 2 as building-heavy maintenance implements.

This can vary, just what I have found to be true for me and my conditions.

Good luck with your drive. :thumbsup:

 

[GPintheMitten]

My guess is that it is just too wet. As it dries I would continue putting a crown on the drive and make shallow ditches on the sides. After it begins to take shape try turning the blade backwards to smooth it out. When you have the clay base formed properly and it is compacted, then top of with crushed stone.

At least that's what I would do.

 

[MacLawn]

I second most of what's been said. In my GA county, you MUST put geotextile fabric down, or they will make you dig ye gravel back up! We can get road base sand/clay mix too, it's great. About #57 gravel first, then what we call crusher run, smaller gravel with fines about like sand. Stuff sets up about like concrete! Louisiana will have different gravel, not our Georgia blue granite. Y'all probably have river rock. Get'er done.