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.

 

[Hay Dude]

Yep, always recess the gate for delivery trucks

 

[LD1]

40' for sure.

While there are some on this forum that would insist you can get a 40' gn into a narrow drive, in reality it ain't gonna happen and you are likely gonna drive tires over the ends of the Culver crushing them.

If you have a smooth area that doesn't have a road ditch, when it's dry or frozen drive the rig off the road and measure.

Or do it in a drive you know you can get in and out of. Start you turn off the road. Mark where your outside front tire is, the. Continue pulling in and mark where your trailer tires are. Take a measure.

 

[wolfpack2]

When I had our house built 20 years ago we had a 40 ft culvert installed. Have never regretted it. The crew cab pickup and 28ft GN turn in with no problem. Even the semi drivers appreciate it.

 

[4570Man]

40' for sure.

While there are some on this forum that would insist you can get a 40' gn into a narrow drive, in reality it ain't gonna happen and you are likely gonna drive tires over the ends of the Culver crushing them.

.

And I guess you could if the main road was 60 ft wide in front of your house. But there’s no way you can turn off a 20ft wide road 90 degrees into a 20ft driveway without running off the end with a 30ft trailer. This thread actually seems pretty well in agreement that he needs 40 ft.

 

[Cougsfan]

The width of the driveway on straight sections wouldn't be my concern. Having extra wide radius corners would be the top priority.

 

[hslogger]

I have big project planned for next year and the contractor put in a new access to our property. Forty feet of culvert, ribbed on the outside, smooth inside. Five loads of one inch minus rock on a four axle dump truck. This will allow for Anything, ANYTHING to access with no problem

 

[LD1]

And I guess you could if the main road was 60 ft wide in front of your house. But there’s no way you can turn off a 20ft wide road 90 degrees into a 20ft driveway without running off the end with a 30ft trailer. This thread actually seems pretty well in agreement that he needs 40 ft.

This thread, yes.

Other threads that come up time to time....there are still a few that think you can pull a gooseneck in anywhere a BP can fit, which is just physically impossible due to the pivot of the gn being in front of the rear axle, making to clip corners alot shorter than. A BP

 

[4570Man]

This thread, yes.

Other threads that *** up time to time....there are still a few that think you can pull a gooseneck in anywhere a BP can fit, which is just physically impossible due to the pivot of the gn being in front of the rear axle, making to clip corners alot shorter than. A BP

A GN no doubt tracks wider than a BP. But I couldn’t make my hypothetical turn with my 24ft BP trailer either. To be fair my trailer has a long wheelbase and tracks more comparable to a 30ft. And maybe with a short wheelbase truck I could do it but with my dump truck or 4 door long bed leaf spring ford I can’t.

 

[sandman2234]

If the O/P has 20 and 40 foot options, I think we can all agree without a lot more information, he should go with the 40 foot option. There are times when I have put my rig with a 53 foot trailer down a 20 foot opening, but I really didn't like it and was sure glad I got the cooperation of a lot of people who took a few extra minutes to stay the heck out of my way. (1 mile from my house and an accident closed the road ahead, so I HAD TO take the detour down a side street with deep ditches on both sides. Knowing I would have the same issue at the other end of the street, I called my Bride and got her to come slow traffic down long enough for me to make another wide turn. Once She slowed, and I started out, a car passed her and ended up looking nose to nose with my rig. I just sat there till he figured out that I wasn't going into the ditch to make room for him after he passed my Wife on a double yellow line! He actually was nice about backing up in the wrong lane past my Wife so I could finish my turn!
( Sorry about the rabbit hole!)
David from jax
The slower you take a turn, the sharper of a turn you can make.
DfJ

 

[ShowroomShine]

40’ it is, thanks for the opinions. Now I have to figure out how to get a DOT required 15” pipe in a 8” deep ditch