New drive way: ashphalt or concrete -tolerances

[beowulf]

I just tore out about 300' of old drive way - which was road oil over decomposed granite - and I now am trying to decide whether to put in concrete or ashphalt (or maybe even crushed rocck). My concerns will be cost, how each would handle weight of my 3410 Kubota with FEL - - tho I will probably lay down 5" if concrete), and if I would have a weed problem if used crushed rock (rock would obviously be the easiest - and given our location we have no snow plow problem to consider if we went with the rock). If I would not have a weed germination problem with 5" of crushed rock - that is what I might want to do as it would cost the least I think. . . ideas, suggestions ? The road is bordered already by concrete curbs so whatever I put down will go between that. . . very slight incline in one section. . . looking to doing much of this myself and renting a roller if ashphalt, and hiring experienced concrete labor if I go with concrete.

(aka monkeybreath)

 

[Junkman]

why didn't you grind up what was there and re oil it??? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[frank_f15]

seeing as how freezing and snow, is not a factor i like concrete, but it will cost $$$ for 300 ft. have u done any work up on the difference in cost? that might help u make a decesion.

 

[gone]

Cheapest to most expencive stone,pavement,crete. I think you would also need a crew for pavement also,if so.west terms are the same as New England.Pavement laid by a paver is not a one man job,nor can you take an hour break in the middel, I work for a major paving co. here in N.H.,I run grader and other heavy equipment.Did over 12000' of runway at Manchester air port last year,plus unknown miles of roads and parking lots. In my opinion stone would work fine,if weeds pop up there is a spray that will kill any vegetation, we used way back in my farm days don't remember what it was called. asphalt here is about $ 58.00 a ton wich will do around 10'x10x1.5" thick normal drives here are two coats= 2.5"-3" thicknes total.

 

[BigAl]

If you are doing 300' of driveway ,you will need more than a roller to do a nice job . Most guys will not rent out their asphalt paving box unless they run it . Expect to pay at least twice as much for concrete as asphalt . Concrete last longer with much less maintenace required . Concrete as Asphalt comes in all kinds of mix designs depending on your needs . I would use a 5 sack(2500PSI) (min), for concrete or a AR 6000 for Asphalt Mix(Min.) for a personal driveway . Asphalt needs about a year before it cures properly .You just need to be careful turning your wheels or leaving a heavy trailer jack on it . Use a board under the jack to displace the weight ,if you do .
You then need to seal asphalt about every 4 years ,on the average .Asphalt is only as strong as the base it is placed on . Asphalt has no strenght to speak of .so make your base STRONG! Concrete developes 80% of it's PSI strenght within 28 days . I would use 6x6#10 EWM or #3 or #4 rebar on 3 foot centers ,both ways if I was using concrete for a personal driveway . Again this depends on the type of weighted vehicles that will be using your driveway .Heavy trucks or equipment need more support than a average driveway thickness can provide .The EWM wire or rebar will not keep it from cracking ,but it will help keep it from settling or breaking apart if it does . Place expansion joints every 10 feet on Concrete driveways to help reduce cracking and allow for expansion .Keep the concrete driveway wet down a couple times a day,over the first week or so, so it can cure more slowly as it hardens .
If you have curbing on each side of your drive way you might want to consider a gravel drive . A good Crushed 1 1/2 rock" base with a Crushed 3/4 " rock finish makes for a nice job and also keeps the price way down . For 300 'x 8' feet wide figure about 4 ten wheelers or 40-50 tons of 1 1/2" crush rock with fines . The fines keep the rock locked in place . This will give you a average depth of 4 inches .Put a light coating of 3/4" with fines(around 20 tons after you have rolled or compacted the 1 1/2 " in place . Then roll the 3/4" in place with a double drum vib. roller . Makes for one great driveway that should give you years of good service . If you go this way try to stay away from Crushed "river rock" as it has too many rounded sides and will start to move around and break loose much quicker than Crushed "mine rock" .
Good luck and I hope this helps ,
Big Al

 

[Henro]

I can't add too much to help...

But I can tell you that last fall a truck stopped [he had dumped some dirt fill in my driveway previously for $10 per tri-axle load] and said he had about ten tons of asphalt that he was going to dump down the road and he thought it would work for my driveway if I wanted it.

I said sure and gave him $20 for it...which was $20 more than he would have gotten down the road.

Having no previous experience with asphalt, I was amazed at how easy the hot stuff flows. I did not have a roller, so I just spread it with my loader and ran up and down it with my R4s. I did not get a smooth finish but I got a fairly good finish, one that works pretty good in winter on the slope.

If asphalt was a lot cheapter than concrete I would go with asphalt, probably. I still have more to do with my driveway and will have to check prices around here. If asphalt is about the same price as concrete, then I will go with concrete myself.

I was amazed at how the hot asphalt moved around like sand, but when it cooled it is as hard as rock...of course, everyone knows this, but when you play with it hot it seems to give you a new understanding of the stuff! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[RobS]

One other consideration you might check into...

Some places view concrete as a "permanent" improvement to your land and will increase property taxes accordingly. Asphalt/stone/etc. are "temporary" and may not affect taxes /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[BigAl]

Excellent point Rob !
Here in my county ,the local property tax guy figures twice as much to the value of your home if you use concrete vs. asphalt . I had completely forgotten about that !
In the old days when I was still contracting that was $1 per square foot for asphalt or $2 per square foot for concrete .
Big Al

 

[Egon]

Oh Henro, you'll have to spend several days on an asphalt crew that's pulling a mat on the highway. And may you be fortunate that the first truck driver of the day has not fully awoken and misses the hopper with at least 1/2 his load. A new whole new asphalt descriptive course of adjetives may be added to your vocabulary repetoire.

Egon

 

[dmccarty]

beowulf,

I have a gravel driveway. Its about 500 feet long and I used
geotextile fabric and ABC gravel. Works just fine. Cheap
compared to concrete or asphalt. Since I built it I can fix it.

Grass/weeds? Yes. The lesson I have learned is that if you
want to grow weeds or grass put down gravel. You don't need
to fertilize, seed or airate. Just put down gravel........

Later,
Dan McCarty