Gravel Driveway - pothole

[TheMan419]

We have a gravel (well limestone really) drive. It is in need of a refresh. We usally put down a topping of what is called #53 around here. It is 1 1/2 inch down to powder. It usually packs well and provides a nice look. Has to be redone every couple years.

We have a small pot hole developing. Right now a circle maybe a foot to a foot and half in diameter.

What do we need to do to repair that? I have a tractor with a bucket and a back blade. Neighbor has a box blad that I could probably borrow but I have no idea how to use it.

Does just filling the hole in with #53's and compacting that work? Should I get something smaller or larger to put in that hole to start with?

The company we buy from will deliver and spread the rock with their spreader truck. If we need to do something specific to that spot I will either need to do it myself or hire someone to specifically deal with it.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Sounds like time for a 5 gallon bucket of rock and a yard rake.

 

[TheMan419]

Sounds like time for a 5 gallon bucket of rock and a yard rake.

So just fill it with the #53's?

 

[ponytug]

That is the idea. You need to get the damp clay or damp stone dust worked into the material and compacted, ideally with a vibratory compactor. You want the material not to move afterwards. If you are doing it every couple of years, I suspect that the next time you add new material that if you bring in a heavy roller compactor after mixing the new with the old, it will last longer. You might also try making the next layer smaller, say 3/4" minus.

Potholes form when water, or movement, washes the clay/stone dust out of the gravel, freeing the gravel to move. Subsequent tire passage further moves the gravel and washes/drives the fines out of the gravel, making the problem worse.

All the best,

Peter

 

[seville009]

Or maybe mix in some Quikcrete with the stone you put into the pothole to help hold it all in place

 

[oosik]

I use my LPGS with scarifiers full down. But I'm dealing with a mile long gravel driveway and a couple 150 foot stretches with potholes. You can do the same thing. Take your garden rake and VIGOROUSLY scarify the bottom of the pothole. Add a bucket or two of your limestone material. Smooth it with the rake. You want the "added limestone" to bond with the material at the bottom of the pothole.

Then - with the heaviest vehicle you own - drive forward/back over this area and pack it down. If you lightly dampen the new limestone it will pack down better.

 

[timbatrader]

In my experience potholes are all about the water if you can shape the drive so the water runs away you will prevent the pothole coming back but if water can sit there and there is traffic you get potholes forming my advice fill the hole with the same material that is around it but pay attention to where the water runs and sits. The first heavy rain after I have worked on my driveway I always get my coat on and walk the length of the driveway and watch where the water runs and make a mental note of what areas i need to change

 

[Rockbadchild]

sometime filling the pothole is a quick fix but can come back at the same place the next year…. Is that your case ?

what do you mean “it need to be redone every couple years” ? like you need to add gravel every couple of years ? if so why ? it sinks ?

I worked as road constructions surveyor for 3 years and we always had to grade the road before adding gravel if not i was told the potholes or washboard would translate right through the asphalt in a matter of years.

so from that id say to scrape the gravel until you get to the bottom of the pot hole just like a grader would then spread it back once level and compacted down, add you new gravel and compact it against.

 

[thclimer]

Like others have made note of, potholes are the result of standing water which then someone drives through and splashes the water carrying away some of the gravel/grit eventually creating a depression which then feeds to process more vigorously.

As it sounds like you only have one hole to fill I'd be manually filling the hole with a shovel using the same material (stone and dust) packing it the best you can maybe even leaving it a little proud of the road surface to be compacted as you drive over it. Then the next time it rains make sure there is not a puddle forming or you will have the pothole return.

Good luck!

 

[MoMower]

Break the edges of the pot hole as much as possible before filling it. Just filling it in and it’ll be back shortly.

 

[kevin37b]

If the hole is at the entrance , slow down when pulling in ?

 

[Bill Guenthner]

I've never had a pothole problem, just washouts which are running downhill if there's a "gully washer" rain, and I can just drag the gravel back in place. Do you have a solid base of #2 under the road pack? Road pack (or dense grade) by itself will not hold up when the ground turns to peanut butter.

 

[ZTMAN]

I have probably watched a tleast 50 YT videos on grading gravel driveways, and have graded miles at our camp.

Best explanation I heard about fixing potholes, if you don't break up the hole and just fill it in, it is like punching a bowl of dry cheerios. Makes sense.

I lower the rippers on the box blade and rip the hole first, then fill and compact.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Conventional wisdom is that the road should be scarified to a depth greater than the bottom of the pothole. (Pick-axe if it is small, and you do it by hand). A Calvanist philosophy that the longer or more difficult the task, the better the results, dictates that back-filling in multiple layers with tamping between layers is better than a single back-fill. While you could rent a plate compactor or a jumping jack, oosik's suggestion of driving over it (slowly) with the highest ground-pressure tire is probably most expedient. (Might be tractor front wheel with a load in the bucket or rear tire with a heavy implement).

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

So just fill it with the #53's?

Yes, no need in disturbing 99.875% of your road just for a few holes. You have a road to maintain. Extra gravel is good to have. Just get a bag of Portland cement, fill the hole with gravel, sprinkle a couple handfuls of Portland on it, maybe water, and leave the rest of your good drive alone.

 

[scaredychicken]

Boxblades are the great equalizer.
Messes up the driveway for a bit as everything gets roughed up, but then it improves as things pack down.
focus on the problem areas

Dogs and chickens create most of my potholes

 

[Username Taken]

1) Get some quikrete and some chicken wire. Dig the hole just a bit to get some of the loose stuff out (optional), put some chicken wire in the hole and pour in the concrete. Lift the wire up, before the crete starts to set, to where it's about 2 inches below the surface.

2) You can use heavier gauge wire if you're in the mood.

3) (Recommended) If you're real ambitious, you can put some pieces of rebar in before you 'pour' over the chicken wire. You can drive a couple pieces into the ground, place a piece or two sideways........ I'd try to at least drive one piece into the ground so the concrete patch won't roll all over the place if/when it breaks loose after being run over a few hundred times.

fun stuff

I'd level the concrete to about 2 inches below the gravel if you use that much.

ETA: You don't always have to premix the stuff in a wheelbarrow. PITA. You can sometimes just pour it from the bag dry and water it in. Just don't wash all the portland away. You can also do it before a rain. It'll harden. Just be aware that it's not 'set' yet and avoid running over it until it is.

 

[TheMan419]

Yes, no need in disturbing 99.875% of your road just for a few holes. You have a road to maintain. Extra gravel is good to have. Just get a bag of Portland cement, fill the hole with gravel, sprinkle a couple handfuls of Portland on it, maybe water, and leave the rest of your good drive alone.

I would agree disturbing the rest of the drive to fix this is not a good idea. Some good ideas in the thread on how to do by hand. We just filled it in with 53's a couple years ago.... but it is back in the exact same spot, and frankly came back fairly quickly.

 

[TheMan419]

I've never had a pothole problem, just washouts which are running downhill if there's a "gully washer" rain, and I can just drag the gravel back in place. Do you have a solid base of #2 under the road pack? Road pack (or dense grade) by itself will not hold up when the ground turns to peanut butter.

I do not know what is under the drive. We have been in the house 6 years. We have spread the #53's on top once in that time. It is time to do it again. The base is very solid almost looks like concrete, but clearly is not. It is limestone that has been packed down over the years.

 

[Username Taken]