What size/width driveway for truck and gooseneck trailer?

[ShowroomShine]

Installing a new driveway entrance on some property I have purchased and want to make sure to install the correct size to not be limited to normal trucks and trailers.

Ideally it would need to be wide enough for a pickup truck and a 25-30’ gooseneck deckover trailer.

Would it need to be any wider for a dump truck and trailer or even a small transfer truck if necessary?

Double wall 15” pipe comes in 20’ sections hoping that 20’ wide should be plenty.

 

[JJT]

20' will barely get the job done, but you will be happier with 30'. I upgraded my 20' entrance to 40' about 20 years ago, with no regrets.

 

[sandman2234]

Installing a new driveway entrance on some property I have purchased and want to make sure to install the correct size to not be limited to normal trucks and trailers.

Ideally it would need to be wide enough for a pickup truck and a 25-30’ gooseneck deckover trailer.

Would it need to be any wider for a dump truck and trailer or even a small transfer truck if necessary?

Double wall 15” pipe comes in 20’ sections hoping that 20’ wide should be plenty.

I have 40 foot for my semi truck and I have to get about 3 feet over into the grass on the opposite side of the road before making the turn. My concrete culverts came in 8 foot sections and I really need to add one more section before I come in tired one night and take the turn to sharply like my neighbor did. If it helps justify the addition cost, the wrecker bill was $400 to get his U-haul out of the ditch. Even if you don't cover all the culvert with dirt and gravel, having the pipe in ground is a big headstart to a wider and easier to navigate driveway!
I live on a dead end street and my driveway is the only place for vehicles of any lenght to turn around.
David from jax

 

[Leo182]

20 feet wide should be plenty wide enough for any straight section of driveway. It won't be near enough at the entrance or any sharper turns in the roadway. I'm far from being an engineer, but a 20 foot wide entrance, making a 90 degree turn off the entrance road, is maybe more suited for a 10-12 foot utility trailer not a 30 foot gooseneck. I'm sure someone with more experience will weigh in.

Also with the 20 foot culvert, you won't get a full 20 feet of driveway, probably closer to 15-16 foot of usable width.

 

[tfuller]

I assume this is in a rural area but there could be codes that dictate how wide of a driveway you can install depending on how the property is zoned.

 

[Citydude]

I installed 40' on my entrance. The service road I turn off of isn't very wide. The extra footage on my entrance makes up for the difference when pulling trailers.

 

[4570Man]

I usually build residential driveways with one piece of 20ft pipe. If the driveway was angled in the direction of travel maybe you could do it but when it’s a 90 degree turn I can’t get my trucks in that driveway. Even if you drop the truck wheels off the other side of the road coming back out I still have a hard time with that turn. If it’s your personal driveway I’d spend the money on a second stick of pipe and make it 40ft.

 

[LouNY]

I just redid two culverts in my driveway, we reburied a 30'.
Dug a ditch along it and rolled it into that one then deepened the original a foot to get the pipe back down were it needed to be.
That one is just barely long enough. The second one needed new pipe and we used 40' on it it runs across the driveway at an angle,
thirty feet would have worked but we went ahead and used the full 40' as the exit area is also were I push a lot of snow while plowing the driveway.

 

[bigtiller]

I upgraded my 20' main entrance to 40' and my field entrance to 60' for the semi trailers to get the crop out.

Everybody is happy about that.

 

[redman135]

Showroom Shine, RECESS your gate (pickup +30' gooseneck + 10' get off the road) Then figure out your swept area(outside front wheeel and inside rear gooseneck wheel) and build the aproaches to suit. NOTE check the Local regulations FIRST as there may be a restriction on the entrance size.