Stabilizing gravel pothole patches with cement binder

jmc · Oct 17, 2015

My neighbor used my asphalt driveway quite a bit and decided to patch a persistent pothole where the driveway passes over a filled ravine. (Over the years, just filling it with gravel only works for a few weeks before the gravel jumps back out.) About three months ago he threw some kind of cement product in with the gravel and that repair has held so far. Wish I had asked for his recipe when I had the chance. Anybody ever done this? Did you use sac-krete or whatever? How much?

RedNeckRacin · Oct 17, 2015

I wouldn't get too excited. You don't fix a pothole by filling it contrary to popular belief. You have to cut them out due to the road not being uniform either due to material differences or compaction. My guess would be he dumped in dry sac-krete and let it harden up on its own. Once you get into some freeze thaw cycles, that pothole is more than likely going to come back.

k0ua · Oct 17, 2015

Yes, to fix potholes you can wet the hole, I use my 15 gal spray rig on the back of the tractor, dump in dry sakrete, brush it smooth, then spray the top for a bit, and let it set up. It can work fairly well and is easier and cheaper than the cold patch asphalt.

Leejohn · Oct 17, 2015

The best my far for gravel dives or road is to mix 1/3 red clay with 2/3 a real small grave and sand.

jmc · Oct 20, 2015

OP here.

Thanks you for the responses. Looks like there is no magic recipe. I'll just get some sak-crete and experiment.

Sprinklerman · Oct 20, 2015

My stone driveway near the house , I took straight cement ,no stones , and raked it in and around the gravel . put on a sprinkler for an hour . It tightened up real nice

/pine · Oct 20, 2015

Like has already been stated just filling potholes is mostly futile...
...My experience with gravel road potholes is that you must deal with the "soft spot" that is the root of the cause...generally on a gravel surface what causes potholes is softer under lying strata (i.e., no base etc..)

In most cases the simple solution is using scarifiers to disturb the the area and fill the soft area with accumulated material from the scarifying...smooth and cover with new gravel (including fines)...

I'm not exactly sure about the circumstances the OP is dealing with as far as the problematic pothole and "asphalt"...if the pothole is right up against the paving...it (the asphalt and it's base) may have to be under-mined a bit and then adding a suitable base material...