Grading How would you fix this road?? (w/pics)

[Egon]

Without disturbing the base how does one get a packed consolidated roadway?

Just adding a couple of inches of granular material on top will not solve the problem.It will give you a couple of inches of loose material that will pound out to the rocks and holes and mostly end up in three rows after a year or so. One row on each side of the road and one right down the center. All the rocks and holes will still be there in the tire track lanes

 

[Ford tractor]

I would get a decent box blade. A good heavy unit, one with a swinging tail that can be locked down or free would be best. If you have a welder, add support to the front scar bar and 3pt mount. Hitting lots of rocks is hard on them and the cheap ones will bend like all get out. More weight is better with box blades up until it's too heavy to pull. (then you have an excuse for a larger tractor....:laughing

Use it to get the rocks out by extending the top link some, locking down the swinging tail (if it has one) and extending the scarifiers all the way down. You DON'T want to pull a mound of spoils in the box at this point. That's why you want it tipped back a bit so the loose material can get out and don't lower it all the way, just until the rear blade is touching the ground. It may take several passes in each direction to get the larger rocks out. After you loosen a rock raise the 3pt to bring the rock up where you can roll it off to the side.

After you get all the big rocks out, pull out the scarifiers and shorten the top link to where the box is dead level to 1" nose low. Adjust as needed, but that's a good starting point. Nose down digs more, nose up smooths more. Swinging tail loose digs more, tail locked down smooths more. Then shorten the side link to tilt the box by 2" side to side. (ALWAYS shorten the side link NEVER lengthen it when running a blade to form a crown or change grade. The link is much more fragile extended than shortened. I know. I also know how much the replacement cost is too.) Run the down side to the shoulder and work edge to center moving the loosened spoils to the center of the road. About 2-3 half width passes in each direction will get you to the center and should result in a 4" crown. It's easier to make the crown with a back blade tilted 30-40degrees , but you can do it with the box too.

If you run a sports car, you may want to decrease the amount of crown, but that will reduce run off and mean a shorter time before you're maintaining the road again. I like a LOT of crown for that reason. Maybe too much for some, but it's what I like.

 

[djradz]

You are trying to get a good surface from what would be classified as base material. So what you are tying to do is what you otherwise would pay the gravel pit operator to do, sort/filter out the big stones, except you are trying to do it in the field. If I were trying do do this, I think I'd rent a box blade with scarifiers and break up the surface and maybe level it better, and then run a landscape rake down it to better level it and get the rocks out. Although many have said something about bringing fines (potentially) in from the sides, it appears you already have a huge crown on the road. As such, I think you could do better just by getting the rocks out (via the box blade and rake) and then leveling. Now, if you find once you are working the box, that there's a ton more large rocks underneath, then I say you probably should just use the box to do some leveling (with minimal scarifying) and then bring in more top material.

 

[beppington]

Without disturbing the base how does one get a packed consolidated roadway?

Just adding a couple of inches of granular material on top will not solve the problem.It will give you a couple of inches of loose material that will pound out to the rocks and holes and mostly end up in three rows after a year or so. One row on each side of the road and one right down the center. All the rocks and holes will still be there in the tire track lanes

Is it realistic to expect a non-paved driveway/ road to last a year without needing some level of maintenance?

I had in mind suggestions for the OP that would get his road in good shape now, but would require occasional maintenance (re-grading, leveling, smoothing), hopefully no more than quarterly if all goes well. I guess some roads done "just right" can make it for longer periods. Are those luck-of-the-draw, excellent planning & implementation ... or some of both?

 

[Egon]

Is it realistic to expect a non-paved driveway/ road to last a year without needing some level of maintenance?

If the base problem is not fixed the one or two inches of material on top just
remain loose and quickly gets moved out of the way by traffic.:

 

[/pine]

Is it realistic to expect a non-paved driveway/ road to last a year without needing some level of maintenance?

In my experience of 40 years of maintaining a 1/2 mile gravel road that's up,down and around the side of a mountain...it really depends on the number of exceptional storms that occur...i.e., what are often referred to as 10, 20 + year storms...of which we sometimes get several of in just one season...other years we get no exceptional downpours..

Most of the maintenance required in typical years is just keeping ditches and culverts open and cleaned...

It is the exceptional downpours (duck drowners) that do the damage to the gravel surface...

 

[beppington]

Most of the maintenance required in typical years is just keeping ditches and culverts open and cleaned...

How often, on average?

It is the exceptional downpours (duck drowners) that do the damage to the gravel surface...

Poor ducks!!

 

[beppington]

If the base problem is not fixed the one or two inches of material on top just
remain loose and quickly gets moved out of the way by traffic.:

How quickly, would you guess? By the end of the week? Month? Grading weekly would be too much for me. Monthly? Maybe. Quarterly, sure.

 

[/pine]

How often, on average?

no less than once every spring...

culverts are one of my biggest problems...mainly because I am not here for about 3 months during the worst of the winter and it's leaves and sticks that clog the culverts...this causes wash-outs if we get an exceptional storm...

But...in the 1/2 mile of our road there are 3 wet coves (where springs cross) before I installed the culverts the springs/streams ran across the road...and back then (I had no tractor) if we would get a bad storm I would have to get a neighbor to bring their tractor in and make the road passable...

since then I have also added culverts where ditches switch from one side of the road to the other...

otherwise, I only need to boxblade the road about every three years but it is a till and river rock base with crusher run (granite) which holds up very well...

 

[jake98]

My guess would be that the big rocks and the small stuff all came out of the same truckload. Unless there was a mud situation you don't need the big ones. And in flat country a crown is less important too, I think. It looks like it's begging for some scarifying with a box-blade to me. You might be able to rip it up and re-grade it and only need to get rid of a few of the big pieces, or maybe none. (But I'm no pro.)

 

[JDGreenGrass]

IMO, a gravel road needs maintenance once or twice a year no matter how well it's built.

I do mine once in the spring...once in the fall.

 

[zonta223]

Hi
Don't want to hi-jack the thread but has anyone tried to renovate a driveway by ripping with box blade as suggested.....then mixing in cement powder and smoothing and compacting........I can get cement for about $20 a ton.......lot cheaper than crushed limestone..........any one tried this..........any comments?

 

[JDGreenGrass]

I think this would give you a good hard surface although you may be better off by smoothing with the box blade and then adding the cement powder on top.

People have spoke of good results approaching it this way.

 

[Egon]

I think this would give you a good hard surface although you may be better off by smoothing with the box blade and then adding the cement powder on top.

Many may call this "Soil Cement" which can come in different forms.

It may work better if the cement is worked into the road surface and then whetted down.

 

[mjncad]

Hi
Don't want to hi-jack the thread but has anyone tried to renovate a driveway by ripping with box blade as suggested.....then mixing in cement powder and smoothing and compacting........I can get cement for about $20 a ton.......lot cheaper than crushed limestone..........any one tried this..........any comments?

I had thought of doing this too; but have no idea where to get Portland Cement in bulk.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Many may call this "Soil Cement" which can come in different forms.

It may work better if the cement is worked into the road surface and then whetted down.

Yes, I would agree with this.

I didn't "word" my comment very well.

 

[zonta223]

I had thought of doing this too; but have no idea where to get Portland Cement in bulk.

Try a cement works not concreting companies they normally sell it in 1 ton bulk bags (if you have something that can lift a ton).......try for a cement called BB or BCB. It is a cheaper version of cement that mining companies use to back fill mines etc.

regards

 

[clemsonfor]

I do this all the time. I run a 5' rototiller with the rear gate open and in reverse tractor gear in creeper range. The tines kick up the rocks and loosen the rest of the material down to a reasonable depth. Doesn't take any power. Works best after an average rain. It can be a little noisey. Several passes produce a perfectly graded roadway.

Please don't tell me it won't work. Your road is already much better than some I have done. Then I use a york rake to comb out the rocks and other crappola.

I would not use a tiller on a gravel road, but then again i dont really do road work, i supervise those that do and tell them what i want.

Have not read it all, but to the OP that driveway looks as good as it could get to me, but id agree get some fines on top to fill level with big rocks.

 

[mjncad]

Try a cement works not concreting companies they normally sell it in 1 ton bulk bags (if you have something that can lift a ton).......try for a cement called BB or BCB. It is a cheaper version of cement that mining companies use to back fill mines etc.

regards

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Garthhh]

how to deal with the rocks sticking up depends on the rock
how many are a problem & what size they are...
hit em with a sledge hammer, you may be able to break them up in place, instead of compromising the base

your FEL can be used to compact
with a full bucket
use the curved backside to push a pile of fill
letting the bucket float over the surface

I have lots of DG [decomposed granite] & hard pan
I'm thinking the OP has similar with limestone & hardpan
cement can be added as a supplement

in this area it is common to chip seal higher traffic dirt roads