Need Advice on Building Road

[Wingsy]

I've read all I could find on gravel road building here and it's been a tremendous help. But before I actually get started I want to ask for any advice you all can give me about my particular situation. I want to do this project myself -- well, other than hauling in the gravel that is.

First, the pictures.

This is the first part of the road up on the hill.


2nd part of the upper roadway, looking back towards the 1st part. This upper part is around 300 feet.


And this is the lower area at the bottom of the hill. All that enclosed within the red line is the target area.

The soil is sand rock. Pretty poor soil for anything in my opinion. My main questions are how much, if any, topsoil should I remove before the gravel trucks arrive? What kind of gravel? How deep?

I don't care all that much about this lasting forever, and the traffic on it will be a pickup, car, and my tractor, and not very often. I have a box blade that I'm just now learning to use so I should be able to maintain it without too much effort. I don't really want the roadway to be much higher than the surrounding ground, especially for the 1st picture of the upper part because some day it will become part of the paved driveway to my house that isn't built yet. I want to be able to cross it with a riding mower without scraping the underside as I go over it. Oh, and I think I don't want crusher-run. From what I've seen that stuff tracks into everything (car, gazebo, building, house).

I appreciate any comments or suggestions you can give me.

 

[DKCDKC]

Fabric is good if you can afford it. Do take off all topsoil and enough so that the gravel will leave just a gentle rise. If you have gravel below the surrounding soil it will become a drainage ditch. I'd put in a few inches of large stone, 2" or so, then a thin layer of regular driveway gravel and top it with crusher run. I have crusher run on all my drives and the home parking lot. As Brin says, once it has settled in you have no tracking issues at all. Done right your drive will require very little maintenance, and later be a great foundation for asphalt.

 

[DaveOmak]

Looking at the area you want to do, it appears it could be fairly wet.... I would scrape off all sod and roots (organic material) and lay down 6-8" of 3" minus.... drive on it to compact it into the soil until flat/level good road bed.... then add 3" of 1 1/2" minus and compact.... Fabric under the 3" minus would insure a long life road bed....
Anything less than properly done, you will be wasting time and money as the road bed will disappear into the soil..... Especially when you start building, and heavy trucks need that road to travel on....

Dave

 

[Ted Summey]

Your photos show what appears to be a firm base already. When it rains how soft does that area outside the garage doors get? It isn't rutted so it looks firm.

I wouldn't do much scraping or digging in your case. I would spray the vegetation then gravel over what you have outlined in red. I would use crush and run to build the base and atfer that is packed well, top dress with #57 stone. Your situation is different than the other thread since your drive area appears to have been used for a long time. The other thread is about building a drive through a pasture.

Others will recommend different methods but I prefer to take advantage of what is already in place.

 

[DT86]

It seems like everyone is pretty much on the same page with each other!

So for the sake of being different I have to ask, is slate available in your area?

Over the winter I built a slate road thought part of the farm that's a little over a 1/2 mile long. I prepared the road bed by removing the topsoil and putting it into piles. Then we started cutting down some high spots and filling in some low spots.



The slate was cheaper than quarried stone, like $80 per load which included him bringing his dozer to pack it down! I was also able to trade truck loads of my topsoil for slate 1:1, and he loaded and hauled both!!


I did put fabric under the slate and once properly packed in, it is like concrete.

 

[Wingsy]

Looking at the area you want to do, it appears it could be fairly wet.... I would scrape off all sod and roots (organic material) and lay down 6-8" of 3" minus.... drive on it to compact it into the soil until flat/level good road bed.... then add 3" of 1 1/2" minus and compact.... Fabric under the 3" minus would insure a long life road bed....
Anything less than properly done, you will be wasting time and money as the road bed will disappear into the soil..... Especially when you start building, and heavy trucks need that road to travel on....

Dave

That's a substantial road! A lot more than what I had in mind. Almost all of it won't see heavy trucks, just my truck, car, tractor maybe once or twice a day on average. And the first part will eventually be given over to the guy who will pave it and the driveway, so I'm not going to worry too much about heavy trucks using that part before he paves it.

 

[Wingsy]

Your photos show what appears to be a firm base already. When it rains how soft does that area outside the garage doors get? It isn't rutted so it looks firm.

I wouldn't do much scraping or digging in your case. I would spray the vegetation then gravel over what you have outlined in red. I would use crush and run to build the base and atfer that is packed well, top dress with #57 stone. Your situation is different than the other thread since your drive area appears to have been used for a long time. The other thread is about building a drive through a pasture.

Others will recommend different methods but I prefer to take advantage of what is already in place.

Out in that flat area it does accumulate a little standing water in a small place or 2. After a rain it gets a bit mucky for the first inch or so. I think a good portion of that area was what was washed down the hill before the asphalt was put in. Before the asphalt it was a real mess after a heavy rain.

How much crusher-run would you think I need? And the #57 stone? Keep in mind it's not for heavy duty traffic. Oh, and the entire driving area has only been used for about a year.

 

[Wingsy]

I'd put in a few inches of large stone, 2" or so, then a thin layer of regular driveway gravel and top it with crusher run.

Gravel & crusher-run ... how much?

 

[Ted Summey]

Crusher run depth of 4 or 5 inches. Make sure it gets packed then top dress with 3 inches of #57 washed stone.

 

[Wingsy]

Crusher run depth of 4 or 5 inches. Make sure it gets packed then top dress with 3 inches of #57 washed stone.

Germanton, huh? I remember driving around that courthouse set right in the middle of the road there. Small world.

 

[Ted Summey]

Yes, neighbor, the old courthouse there is long gone. I live several miles north of Germanton proper near the south side of Hanging Rock State Park. Still a Germanon address.

 

[dave1949]

Since you intend to asphalt this eventually, you could continue whatever was done to prep for the asphalt that is there now if you are happy with that.

 

[paulharvey]

For your amount of traffic, 6" of whatever is used locally will do fine. I am torn about stripping too deep, definently strip the sod, but being that it appears to be well compacted already, I dont think I would cut out more than 4", leaving the base material a bit higher.then natural ground. After its paved (i would recommend 1.25" of SP-9.5 or S-3) you might need a little bit of fill yo dress back upto the asphalt.

 

[the old grind]

+1 on your neighbor's suggestion, & btw your soil reminds me a bit of my own.(?) (~50/50 sand/gravel) If fairly well drained, your existing base shouldn't need built up much. When a base is more porous than surrounding soil it can hold water. Coarse stuff will have plenty of voids and may need a lot of settling or compacting to prevent that. (often an issue here in our winter climate.)

'Crusher run' will 'lock down' like few others, and will 'track' around minimally once settled, but it will get dusty if you work it a lot. (in our mushy spring thaw conditions it will resettle/refinish quickly) Don't expect you BB to be the end-all for smoothing. You're bound to get some rippling when using it. If it ever snows down your way use the FEL vs a 'pavement plow' to clear gravel lanes, or let it melt off. You don't want 'curbs' piling up on the sides (with gravel a blade scrapes loose) that won't let rain water drain off to the sides.

Firmly tamping adjacent to asphalt will reduce crumbling & break-off if someone drives a bit wide on the paved portions. Plan to use a fair bit of Roundup to keep weeds at bay, knowing how they'll pop up everywhere, and esp ~12" off the pavement ('chemical trim') to keep an eye on/maintain what your mower will have to cross.

 

[Buppies]

57s and asphalt do not go together they walk or move to much and are good for concrete and French drains. If car traffic only 4 in base if three quarter ton truck 5in at minimum best with 6in. Under cut soil to depth of stone. If you pave it later only minor dressing up will be needed. If low spot holds water put in culvert or French Drain to remove water. If any questions just ask or pm me. Been doing this for a while

 

[Buppies]

You may also find milling material may be a viable alternative and cheaper to

 

[the old grind]

You may also find milling material may be a viable alternative and cheaper to

Another +1 on the asphalt millings to 'top' near the buildings. Up here, it's very affordable .. when available. It rolls flat, blends/touches-up easy, and stays put. That's nice where our ground freezes/thaws a lot. btw: I also like that you don't lose so much to erosion while aiming/adjusting drainage & runoff from shower to storm to ??.

PS: The guy offered ..

 

[MarkV]

Personally I would ask the guy that did your asphalt what he recommends given that you plan to pave in the future.

MarkV

 

[MarkV]

Personally I would ask the guy that did your asphalt what he recommends given that you plan to pave in the future.

MarkV

 

[kevin37b]

You are building a house with no truck traffic , interesting .