Rebuilding small stone road

[Hay Dude]

Was contracted last week to do a quick rebuild of a local small road for a 10 year customer I do a lot of farming and Conservancy mowing for.
The road is a 1200’ straight shot through the woods with 4 driveways. It’s seen better days, but it’s also been there for 100’s of years. The customer doesn’t want a complete rebuild. Just fill the low spots and add a fresh layer of stone. They know it won’t last forever, so I’m comfortable giving them what they want.

Began work this morning. 4 tri‘s of 3/4 clean delivered.
First truck got stuck-that’s commonplace around here in spring. This road sits just a few feet above a flood plain. The Mack with the blue dump bed was easily able to pull out the white Mack with my chain since it was empty. It got stuck with full power divider lock and axle differential lock.

Next I used the 9HP push type debris blower to get most of the organic material off what is left of the road.

Once I cleared the edges of the road, I began sprinkling stone and back dragging it into low spots. I have done several of these stone road rebuilds, including installing a new road from scratch, but this one is just a quick freshening-up.

Here I am using the Kubota with my 8’ bucket to get the low spots taken care of.

What I like to do is after the low spots/potholes are filled, is sprinkle a thin layer, maybe 1”-2” thick onto the old road surface, then back-drag with loader in float.
Tomorrow and Friday, we will be using a 5 ton roller to roll that thin 1-2” layer down tight. It will “bite” into the old layer and form a fairly level, solid surface for the “finish” layer.
Got home about 6pm enjoying the extended daylight and beautiful weather.
More pics coming.

 

[jyoutz]

A nice day’s work.

 

[groundcover]

Like my dad told the guys at Star Roses " One stone thick and not to close together !"

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

jealous... we are still shovelling snow off our roofs and running out of room as snow is up the the eaves..... even thinking about seeing or working on our roads is a long way off.

 

[Hay Dude]

Rained Thursday and I know compacting stone on top of a driveway neglected for 20 years is not in the plans. I’m glad I put down the “bite” layer Wednesday. When I got there this morning (Friday) it wasn’t as bad as I thought.
Anyway, pretty easy going. Just spread stone thin and evenly and compacted it in lifts. Got a couple “atta guys” and Customer was happy at the end of the day.
We ended up with 120 tons of stone and fixed a few of the driveway openings while there.

Here comes another 24 ton

A picture before final compacting

Not a “Taj Mahal“ quality job, but that wasnt what the customer wanted, either. Just get the house renters to stop complaining about pot holes and dirty cars.
I think we achieved that.

 

[groundcover]

Looking good !

 

[Hay Dude]

Thanks!
Heading over there this morning to load up compactor and clean up a bit.

Before:

After:

 

[groundcover]

Not enough Overhead clearance for the trucks to tailgate spread ?

 

[bdhsfz6]

Nice work!

It's pretty much much what I go through here with my 1.25 mile private road. I try and keep it up and work on the sections that need repair before they get too rough. I've only had to do the whole road once in 40 years. It took 14 days and 2000 tons of material. I want to avoid that chore again if possible!

I'm not sure what material you're using but I find compacting the 2RC modified (.75" down to stone dust) wet works best.

 

[Hay Dude]

Not enough Overhead clearance for the trucks to tailgate spread ?

10-4

 

[Hay Dude]

Nice work!

It's pretty much much what I go through here with my 1.25 mile private road. I try and keep it up and work on the sections that need repair before they get too rough. I've only had to do the whole road once in 40 years. It took 14 days and 2000 tons of material. I want to avoid that chore again if possible!

I'm not sure what material you're using but I find compacting the 2RC modified (.75" down to stone dust) wet works best.

I tried to get them to put in several culverts along the lower side to effectively carry off water, but they didn’t want to spend the money.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I tried to get them to put in several culverts along the lower side to effectively carry off water, but they didn’t want to spend the money.

Culverts were installed when the road was put it 50 years ago but many have silted up. It's tough to keep them clear without proper catch basins. I have drainage swales on the steep spots which help as long as a good crown is maintained.

 

[Smokeydog]

That’s a good customer you helped many times before.

Anything you can do to get the water off the road the better. Most of my 1/2 mile driveway is 300 year wagon trail so has worn over the years. Took me decades and over 600 tons to rebuild.

Road maintenance and durability is managing the fines. The trucking company I use has it’s own quarry and makes its own blends of base to carry weight. I have elevation and probably more rain to deal with. Last year 200 tons covered most of it. Had been 12 years before that with no gravel. Improving drainage and land plane makes a big difference with pot holes, ruts and upkeep. Down side, smoother driveway people go faster. Maybe get 20 years from this last batch?

 

[Hay Dude]

Its amazing adding layers of stone on top of probably 100-200 years of previous stone, and it just sinks into the ground lol

 

[bdhsfz6]

Its amazing adding layers of stone on top of probably 100-200 years of previous stone, and it just sinks into the ground lol

I'm sure some disappears into the ground but a lot gets ground to dust by tire traffic and either blows or washes away.

 

[Smokeydog]

Yes it doses sink. If I could do it all over putting fabric down first would have helped.

Wagon road they used head to chest size rocks to fill ruts. Use of scarifiers is a bust. Move as little gravel as necessary to maintain surface and compaction important.

Since you are at the property regularly and the owner appreciates low impact maintenance, maybe justify a land plane to maintain the new gravel?

 

[Hay Dude]

Yes it doses sink. If I could do it all over putting fabric down first would have helped.

Wagon road they used head to chest size rocks to fill ruts. Use of scarifiers is a bust. Move as little gravel as necessary to maintain surface and compaction important.

Since you are at the property regularly and the owner appreciates low impact maintenance, maybe justify a land plane to maintain the new gravel?

I offered the fabric, but 1200 feet was out of budget. Even the softer areas (about 600’) was more than they wanted to spenD.
Great minds think alike!

 

[pmsmechanic]

Years ago, 30 or more to be honest when we moved to our acreage there was a low spot that had water in it every time it rained or we irrigated. I probably hauled about 100 yards of pit run into that low spot. It was wet at the time and I'd level the pit run and then drive over it with the loaded truck pushing the rock into the ground. Once I had it packed and level I spread some road crush over the top. Every spring I would pull a harrow over the driveway to pull out all the small rock that eventually works it's way up. I now have this awesome driveway that needs very little maintenance. Last summer for the first time I added another layer of road crush.

 

[bdhsfz6]

The state is planning to repave the main highway near me this season. They always have left over millings they are looking to loose somewhere. I'll be out there with a sign showing where they can dump it! It won't be near enough to do the entire 1.25 mile private road but it'll be plenty for an apron where my gravel road meets the blacktop. That's one of the spots that gives me grief every spring.

 

[Hay Dude]

The state is planning to repave the main highway near me this season. They always have left over millings they are looking to loose somewhere. I'll be out there with a sign showing where they can dump it! It won't be near enough to do the entire 1.25 mile private road but it'll be plenty for an apron where my gravel road meets the blacktop. That's one of the spots that gives me grief every spring.

They are milling our 4 lane road, too. We are getting several truckloads later next week of free millings.