Steep Gravel Driveway Too Much Work

[LBrown59]

The trouble with a steep up hill gravel driveway is you can't get up it to get out.
The problem with a steep down hill gravel drive way is you is you can't get up it to get in .

 

[Pirate]

View of driveway looking up from the turn. I just spoke with the local quarry. He said pave it.

 

[NC4AB]

Hard to tell how steep the grade is from the picture but I don't see any swales to route the water into your concrete side ditch.

Depending on how steep it is you will need some swales placed ever so often to divert the water into the ditch. Google camp road maintenance, there are several good pages on how to properly design gravel roads.

 

[MarkV]

View of driveway looking up from the turn. I just spoke with the local quarry. He said pave it.

There you go, from the guy that knows all about gravel. My experience has been that with a steep grade there isn't a magic solution that involves gravel. It is all going to try an migrate down hill regardless of type. We have the best luck with crusher run, which here we call 3/4 inch and smaller crushed stone with stone dust mixed in. Some grades just need to be paved or worked after each major weather event like you are doing now. You do have good ditches in the photo and that is a must with a steep grade.

MarkV

 

[lhfarm]

....Here is another idea: What about just paving with concrete the 90 degree turn area? It seems that causes many of the problems from cars having to slow down while making the turn (curve really) and then start accelerating back up the second half of the slope, causing in spinning tires, loss of speed, etc.

I had similar problems with my gravel drive and the washing out issues were solved with the installation of culverts and proper crowning. However the pothole issue remains on my two 90 degree turns. I would be interested to know if anyone has poured concrete as you suggest. How did it work in the winter?

Thanks,

 

[piller]

I've got two steep sections on a 1/4 mile long gravel driveway. It used to be that during and after heavy rains you might think that part of my driveway was a creek and there would be a lot of gravel washed out into the road at the bottom of the driveway.

For me the issue was water management. It did not take a lot of work to slow down the water and to divert the water away from the driveway. I identified a few areas where I could divert the water away from the driveway and made them.

Then I placed rock checks (small piles of large rocks) at strategic spots in the ditches to slow down the rest of the water.

I have to check that the rock checks don't get blocked by debris every once in a while but this has been working well and I've not purchased any new gravel in three years.

I did most of this work by hand, although I used the FEL bucket to haul rocks.

 

[nolefan]

I am in a similar situation with my drive. After a heavy rain this summer that did a number on sections of my drive I consulted a neighbor who swears by filter cloth. Its basically a geotextile product. The local soil conservation office carries it. I stopped by one afternoon to look into it. They carry 12 and a half foot wide rolls that are 300' long. They use it primarily around water tanks and livestock areas but say it works great for gravel drives. I am not totally sold yet but might buy one roll next year and give it a try. You may want to call your soil conservation office.

 

[johnrex62]

All the locals around here and the local contractor all swore all you had to do was pile on crusher run #25. Well, it just gets swallowed up by the earth and rolls away.

They don't all work for the pit do they? :laughing:


Sorry, no help here. I am learning from your plight at the moment.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I have no idea what a #25 rock is. All the crushed rock around here is basalt and screened by size. River rock is not suitable for driveways.

I have a friend with a half mile gravel driveway on a fairly steep hill. He started with a reasonably firm shale base, added 6" of 3" crushed rock (railroad ballast), graded and rolled with heavy equipment, then 3 inches of 1-1/2" minus, graded and rolled. The whole drive was crowned to shed water and culverts installed to get water off of the uphill side. He says it lasts a couple years before he has to have them come back to grade and roll it again. This is with professional grader and roller equipment. He would be there forever trying to do it with a tractor and a 3 point blade, even a large one.

If you have a clay base, the geotextile fabric would be a lifesaver.

 

[Pirate]

Appreciate the replies. I told the guy at the quarry that if you stopped a car on the driveway, you had to back all the way down to start up again. He says, wow, that is steep.

I can't afford to pave the entire drive and parking area, it's probably 700' or so and I have a huge parking area at the house. If I pave just one section, I still have the possibility of needing heavy equipment up top, but then again, who doesn't?

I am steering toward paving with concrete the just steep section, maybe 300 or so feet. I figure if I win the lottery, I can finish the rest off some day. I hate to just keep dumping truckloads of gravel on this drive.

Regarding the swales, you can't tell from my picture but the entire drive leans toward the concrete ditch. It did of good job but a "drive" rut formed and then water got into that and now that rut keeps the water from flowing to the ditch. Now that I have the concrete ditch, I can't grade a new angle into the drive because it will end up below the lip of the concrete.