Road Improvement Question

[crashz]

In all cases, good compaction will be key. Once shaped and graded the way you want the driveway, rent or hire a contractor to use a vibratory roller to pack in the gravel.

When I took Soil Mechancis in school the rule of thumb for most compaction equipment is that in most cases three passes will bring the material to 90% or more of the lab determined dry unit weight. The moisture content must be within the optimal range, and for a granular material is 7-15%. Compaction depths would vary with equipment used, but for a finished surface, the vibratory smooth drum roller gives the best bang for the buck.

The benefit to compaction with a roller verses anything else is that it will smooth things over so well that the gravel will have a surface similar to asphalt. And once you get a good frost, the rear blade won't do any damage while plowing snow.

 

[fish6942]

To address your concerns about picking up the stones when clearing snow, here's what I do. For the first few (hopefully small) snowfalls I drive over the snow to pack it down. I use the Suburban and drive up and down the driveway moving from side to side with each pass. What I want is for the snow to compact and freeze and make a solid ICE surface. Once I have that then the driveway stones are under the ice and don't get picked up by my ATV plow or snowblower.

We do have a decent hill in the driveway so for that I occasionally spread some sand over that.

 

[bx24d]

cut a 3" or 4" diameter PVC pipe lengthwise and slide it over the blade of your rear blade. The C-shaped pipe clings to the rear blade and I go up and down my 300' gravel driveway without creating more work for myself in the Spring.