roads and gravel

[jdavis3099]

I am working a ranch with several miles of neglected roads. The roads will not be used often but need to be able to accommodate pickups and cattle trailers. I have read and understand the theory that the road should have a crown with drainage on the sides. However in this case the existing roads have eroded to the point in many cases where either the entire road is below grade or the tire track section is below grade.

Smoothing the road out would be fairly easy but to build the road up above grade would involve moving a lot of material. I am also concerned that by breaking up and moving material, it will become much softer when wet that the current roadway that is already somewhat packed.

In addition, creek crossings will need to be bulldozed.

I will not be able to afford to gravel all the roads so I plan on graveling those areas most subject to erosion or rutting.

Any suggestions on how to approach this project, and when should large or small gravel be used?

 

[JoeinTX]

Hello, J

I work quite a bit of ranch roads myself and understand your problems. The kind of gravel you will need is known as "caliche" or the white, chalky gravel that you often see. It is expensive, $300-400 for a full 18-wheeler trailer load, but it's the best material for a road base and it hardens with moisture and traffic as opposed to breaking down. Due to cost, you will want to use this in low-lying areas where water regulary runs and the most severely worn areas in your roads. In the other areas, especially in the areas rutted-out, you will need to bring as much of bordering soil onto the road in an attempt to build up the road bed itself with some sort of crown. Then pack the devil out of it with the tractor, the pickup, whatever you can get on it. I also suggest building a series of dirt "dumps" or humps at points along the roads to divert water flow off of the road instead of allowing it to continue down it. Think of a speed-bump, but much larger and easier to get over with a more gradual angle.

I wish I had some pics of my roads to illustrate what I mention above, but, alas, I do not right now. Nonetheless, these are good measures to take and your roads will be better. Too many folks drag a box blade down their ranch roads every so often and, while it looks great immediately afterward, this isn't always what a dirt road needs in order to stay in good shape.

I hope this helps.....

 

[jdavis3099]

Thanks

 

[MarkV]

I thought Joe's advice was very good. We call road base, gravel mixed with stone dust, crusher run here. It seems to have differnt names depending on the available material in your area. Also the bumps Joe mentions we call water bars in this area. They are very common on logging roads that run on a grade and are normally cut at an angle to send the water one way or the other off the road.

The bottom line is to get the water off the road where ever possible. If the water continues to run down the road it will not matter what gravel is put on it because it will remain soft and the gravel just gets pushed into the soil. I am sure I am not the only one who has spent big dollars on gravel, had a great looking road and the next year looked at the the mud wondering what happened to all that gavel.

MarkV