New gravel driveway - What should this cost?

[Member]

Hi,

I'm soliciting bids for a new gravel driveway and I'm getting wildly different proposals. Attached is a diagram that details what I want and a materials spreadsheet that I believe reflects the required materials. I know a site visit would be required for an accurate proposal but what should the approximate cost be for something like this? Also, any suggestions as to my plan? Too much material? Not enough?

Thanks.

 

[EddieWalker]

Very impressive diagram. I'm in TX and can't offer anything because of the differences in material and labor costs. I am curious why you want a 16 foot wide driveway? Ten feet is plenty wide enough and 12 would be getting wasteful in extra material.

Something I've found with bidding jobs is that clients rarely understand how much work goes into preparing a site. Does the new driveway area need trenches dug on either side for drainage? Do you need any culverts added? Is there a natural crown to the proposed driveway site to allow drainage? Laying and compacting rock is easy, but getting the dirt right so it will last can be a lot of work and where the cost climbs dramatically. Is the guy with the low bid going to do the dirt work to make it right or just spread rock and disappear?

Eddie

 

[Member]

Very impressive diagram. I'm in TX and can't offer anything because of the differences in material and labor costs. I am curious why you want a 16 foot wide driveway? Ten feet is plenty wide enough and 12 would be getting wasteful in extra material.

Something I've found with bidding jobs is that clients rarely understand how much work goes into preparing a site. Does the new driveway area need trenches dug on either side for drainage? Do you need any culverts added? Is there a natural crown to the proposed driveway site to allow drainage? Laying and compacting rock is easy, but getting the dirt right so it will last can be a lot of work and where the cost climbs dramatically. Is the guy with the low bid going to do the dirt work to make it right or just spread rock and disappear?

Eddie

Thanks for your reply and the compliment on the diagram, I've had a little trouble getting bids and I have wondered whether the diagram said to potential contractors "this guy is going to be a pain in my ..." or if it's just late in the season here in Wisconsin.

16 feet was the recommendation of a friend. I just measured the portion that's existing and it's 12. I admit, I just took the friend's advice and didn't think about it but I've never felt like the existing driveway is too narrow so 12 feet wide is a good way to lower the cost.

There's definitely some excavating that has to occur. Drainage isn't a problem along where this is going so I don't think I need trenches. No culverts are necessary, the one along the highway is okay.

I think you're right on the low bid guy. I didn't really take his bid seriously as it didn't even cover the materials I believe are necessary.

What do you think about the thickness of the base and top coats?

The one quote that broke out the cost of materials is $14.10/ton. Is that reasonable?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[woodlandfarms]

You may want an initial clearance (grade) of 16 feet wide to remove trees and shrubs but I too would not put rock more than 12ft.

 

[paulharvey]

I also feel that 16 ft is too wide. A private drive is typically 10-12 geet wide. Also, I dont know your area, but here in Florida, 6" of road base (crushed limerick) is plenty. That size of job is plenty big enough to interest real site contractors I would think, but I didnt see if you mentioned your budget for it.

If contractor has to haul off all the grass strippings, ect, that adds to the costs.

I quickly came up with the following.
1. 2000 sq yards
2. Over 1200 tons of rock
3. $12,000 plus in material
4. At least $4000 in labor (no trucking)
5. 60 truck loads of rock, at $60/hr, so even if a round trip is only 1 hour (dump, get loaded, and get back) $3600 in trucking
Rough estimate =$20,000 plus 10-20% profit

Now, if they have to haul spoil material off, figure an additional $5000+

About material, around here $6/ton at mine is about what DOT road base runs, plus trucking; gravel (#57/67 stone is far more)

 

[Member]

I also feel that 16 ft is too wide. A private drive is typically 10-12 geet wide. Also, I dont know your area, but here in Florida, 6" of road base (crushed limerick) is plenty. That size of job is plenty big enough to interest real site contractors I would think, but I didnt see if you mentioned your budget for it.

If contractor has to haul off all the grass strippings, ect, that adds to the costs.

Is there extensive clearing needed?

I don't really have a budget, this is the second step (first step was rezoning) of my plan to build a house on this property. I'd like to do it once and I'm trying to figure out what that should cost. I'm sure I started like most people, without any knowledge of what it took I wanted it to cost about $10,000. I think now, based on the cost of materials and reducing to a 12 foot width, that the materials are around $15,500 delivered.

The current front runner wants around $7,000 for labor (excavating) so that's $22,500 total. There's no brush or anything to be cleared along the path, we're having them stop at the edge of our woods. The last 200 feet or so was a farm field so there is some black dirt that has to be removed there and other areas. There is a part where it has to be graded behind the pole building which involves blending that into the existing hill behind the building and allowing for the driveway to continue around the building for a sort of turnaround. I did ask for compaction of all of the material, I don't know if that's standard or just good practice but it seems like a good idea. The black dirt, etc. can be spread around on site but I do have a couple piles of muddy gravel and some boulders that I'd like removed from the site.

 

[paulharvey]

As a counter proposal, I would suggest 12 ft wide, 6" road base, primed, and 1.25" of sp 9.5 (S3) asphalt would be as cheap and you would be far happier.

Compaction and density are the most important part of a road. If you do Everything else right, and dont properly compact, the road will fall apart.

Asphalt is roughly $5-$7.50/square yard/inch of thickness.

 

[dodge man]

1.25" of asphalt wouldn't be enough, it would break up in the first year. I'd probably get everything built first before I even thought about paving it. I came up with about $16,000 in materials just going by what I've paid for rock in my area.

 

[paulharvey]

1.25" of asphalt wouldn't be enough, it would break up in the first year. I'd probably get everything built first before I even thought about paving it. I came up with about $16,000 in materials just going by what I've paid for rock in my area.

We have paved many county roads that get low traffic (100-1000 trips per day) on 8" of rock and 1.5" of asphalt. They general hold up well for the first 15-20 years.

 

[teejk]

Where in Wisconsin? It's a big state and the terrain/local materials vary a lot (i.e in west central Wisconsin our "base course" was granite breaker rock). Southern Wis uses mostly limestone. Figure +/- $100 hour for Bobcat work to level it. Material itself depends but plan on letting it settle for a year or two and then re-top it. You can probably figure about $100+ per load on a 14 yard dump truck but that's just a guess since I don't have my last bill handy.

620 ft??? That's a lot! You sure you need all that? If you aren't going to access the back of the property on a regular basis then you might want to do it in stages. And whatever you do, get any electrical/water/whatever to the other side.

 

[creekbend]

The other members have been helpful. I only wish to add that Gravel prices are very high in our area. Best wishes. BTW, I also agree that 16 foot wide is too much.

 

[Member]

Where in Wisconsin? It's a big state and the terrain/local materials vary a lot (i.e in west central Wisconsin our "base course" was granite breaker rock). Southern Wis uses mostly limestone. Figure +/- $100 hour for Bobcat work to level it. Material itself depends but plan on letting it settle for a year or two and then re-top it. You can probably figure about $100+ per load on a 14 yard dump truck but that's just a guess since I don't have my last bill handy.

620 ft??? That's a lot! You sure you need all that? If you aren't going to access the back of the property on a regular basis then you might want to do it in stages. And whatever you do, get any electrical/water/whatever to the other side.

I'm in South Central Wisconsin.

The 620 feet includes 60 feet behind my pole building. That said, the other 560 feet gets me to the edge of my woods which is about halfway back. The house lot is located from the edge of the woods to 200 feet in so we'll need a little more after this.

Great point on getting electrical to the other side. I'll ask Alliant about that on Monday. Thanks.

 

[Member]

The other members have been helpful. I only wish to add that Gravel prices are very high in our area. Best wishes. BTW, I also agree that 16 foot wide is too much.

I looked at pricing from the main gravel/quarry company in my area and their prices are actually a little higher delivered to my place than the $14.10 that I've been quoted.

The consensus does seem to be for 12 feet so I'll definitely go with that.

 

[Furu]

I am certain that code requirements are different everywhere but check with the Fire Marshall for your county.
Some locales (mine is one) require a minimum width driveway or a minimum diameter turn-around/hammerhead for fire service.
An exception can be made if you have fire sprinklers installed in ,yes, your residential home.

With the distance, my interpretation of your posting, that your home would be set back they could not park at the main road and drag hoses from there. Each state/county/locale I am certain is different. I would check what the minimum width is in your area if there is one specified for fire purposes.

 

[teejk]

I'm in South Central Wisconsin.

The 620 feet includes 60 feet behind my pole building. That said, the other 560 feet gets me to the edge of my woods which is about halfway back. The house lot is located from the edge of the woods to 200 feet in so we'll need a little more after this.

Great point on getting electrical to the other side. I'll ask Alliant about that on Monday. Thanks.

South central would be in the Madison area? Go ahead and e-mail me with the details (I know a lot of people down there).

 

[kenmac]

If it helps,,I can tell you what I just paid for chert base and gravel road. I had 10 loads of chert @ 20 tons per load hauled and spread with dozer and 50 tons of what they call crush and run gravel. (I spread the gravel) I paid a total of $1700.00
I forgot to add... The crush and run gravel we have here has a lot of lime in it and will set up hard after it has been rained on. Rock probably has different make up in different areas of the country,and may not harden up like the rock I used

 

[EddieWalker]

I wish I could give you better advice, but conditions vary so much that what I know doesn't apply to where you live. Here, rock is scarce and a load of roadbase, which is crushed limestone 2 inches down to fines will run about $22 a ton delivered if you get a full 22 to 24 tons at a time. It's a lot more for smaller loads. Since I don't have snow or significant freezing weather to deal with, 4 inches is the minimum thickness for a gravel driveway. Anything less and it will fall apart. Water and heavy rains are my biggest concern. Six inches in one day happened a month ago. Four inches in one day happened last week. I need to make sure the water has someplace to go more then anything else.

Talk to your contractors and make sure they are all bidding on doing the same thing. Find out what each one is going to do, the steps they are going to do to prepare the soil, compact any fill they add and then spread the gravel and compact it. Compaction is everything with dirt and gravel. If you don't get it compacted properly, it will absorb water and be a mess.

Eddie

 

[sixdogs]

Around here for a new driveway we build in stages because it can get so muddied up with equipment. I'm thinking 10' is good and 12' wider than you really want. Your plan looks great but is a little vague in what actually may be required. The quote remove piles of dirt from site is open-ended subjective and can get a guy in trouble fast on a bid. Maybe that has caused some reluctance.

You might do better to get a referral from someone that has treated them nice and try to work with one guy and then get a rough bid from him.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have found rough bids to always come in double in price in final tally. You need to get the specifics down to the dirt work required (sq. yards of area or better cubic yards of material to be moved or applied), amount of grading to be done, any compaction of dirt that needs to be done ie the black dirt you mentioned needs to be clarified with area size. I think you may be overboard on the base and top coat requirements also. I would think 6" base would be plenty unless you are building in a swamp. I used crushed Shale for my base and only about 3" and topped with 2" of SB2 which is 1"- crushed stone. It holds up well for me, but my soil is well drained and natural soil is pretty rocky and firm. Crushed shale if available is cheap with most of the price being trucking. It is good for base as long as it isn't exposed to the sun which will break it down into very fine material in a couple years time.

Materials need to be specified in local terms for what you want to use so there is no doubt in pricing of materials. Base course should be specified and wording added to contract that compaction is required and specify the compaction method to be roller compacted rather than "walked in with dozer tracks" which some folks call that compacted. Finally spec the top coat type and thickness with a spec for type of crown to the road base and degree of linear level to within + or - xx inches per linear yard and degree of side slope. You can access road building contracts for state roads online for specs on level and crown if you want to go that far.
Specifically spelling out the requirements will get everyone on the same page and you get a better job in the end.


I see that you have a good sized tractor listed, if it were me, I would do most of the work myself as far as spreading the rock and soil prep. A good box blade and some time is about all you need. You can rent a roller compactor to compact the rock and soil fairly cheap. $7000 in your pocket for a couple days work is pretty good pay. Once you get the dirt work satisfactory, the dump truck can pretty evenly spread the rock as they dump by just chaining the dump gate so there is just a little spreading to be done. NOT only will you save money, but tractor time for me is a very enjoyable time.
I would put all the spoils in a pile and then contract someone to remove it. Sometimes, if you advertise "FREE FILL" folks will come and get it for filling in low spots or landfill material, at least around here they will.

 

[sixdogs]

Good advice from GaryFowler. I would add to have a dozer back blade the crushed rock before the finish gravel goes down. You want your sub base flat. Remember to use crushed rock for final finish as rocks with smooth edges will roll and "plow" when you drive or turn on them.