?? About gravel driveway and potholes

[jeff9366]

You can't just fill pot holes. You need to scrape off the road to the level of the deepest pothole and then replace the gravel evenly.

This is KEY to (relatively) long lasting pot hole relief.

 

[EddieWalker]

You have to start with the basics. Where is the water going? Why are the potholes appearing?

To build a road, you need to have drainage large enough on either side of the road to handle all the water so that the water doesn't cross the road or sit on the road. If dirt was used to build up that road, it needs to be compacted before laying the rock.

The rock needs to vary in size from several inches down to fines, and it needs to have jagged edges.

Never use concrete wash if the rock is river rock. That will never lock together because river rock is smooth and round.

The rock needs to be at least 4 inches thick. If you lay it and it's 4 inches, but then it settles or you grade it a few times, it will no longer be 4 inches thick and it will begin to fail.

Potholes happen because water gets through the rock to the soil beneath it and when you drive over it, you loosen up the rock, which is washed away from the rain and vehicle traffic. Same thing happens with paved roads. The reason water gets through it is because it wasn't thick enough or the base wasn't solid enough.

I've found that pouring a sack of concrete into a pothole works great to bring up the level of the base. Then I add rock to the top of the concrete and break up the edges of the road a little to mix the old and new rock together. Then I add a bunch of water and drive over that spot repeatedly.

If the entire road is failing, then it needs to be graded and compacted. Drainage needs to be addressed. Probably bigger ditches and sometimes a culvert or two needs to be installed. You will never win against water, so make sure it's right or you will just be doing it again.

Then buy the proper type of rock and get enough of it to make sure it's thick enough to last. Thicker is better!!!

Put as much water on it as you can and compact it. What will usually happen is it will feel good and solid right away, but after the first really heavy rain, it will feel soft. That's normal and it's when you will get it to really harden up after it dries out!!!!

The biggest mistake you can ever make with a gravel driveway is to grade it out once it's compacted.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[RDrancher]

The biggest mistake you can ever make with a gravel driveway is to grade it out once it's compacted.

I both agree and disagree with this statement Eddie. How's that for wishy-washy?

I repair over 70-100 driveways every year and every one of them gets regraded...to a degree. Of course, every driveway gets treated differently depending on condition, subgrade and existing material, so my technique varies quite a bit. If the driveway is in pretty decent shape and just needs a tuneup and topping, I rip or grade only low enough to collect enough material to set my crown, slope, or whatever drainage it needs. If the base is good, there's no reason to disturb it.

If there are a lot of deep potholes showing mud-pumping from below, the entire driveway gets ripped 'em down to a depth just above the soil. Sometimes I only rip the potholes to the bottom and the surrounding area. Either way, potholes get ripped in three directions...inline with the driveway and at 45 degree angles each way. Then I wheel-roll the potholes individually and add surrounding material as required to bring it up to just above my grade. When I grade it out, the excess compacted material in the potholes gets sliced off to grade and the entire driveway wheel rolled.

The toppings I use vary depending on what I find when I regrade. Many times I recover so much base material that the driveway only needs a couple inches or sprinkling of stone. In this area, the best crushed stone is 3/4" minus limestone. I order unwashed crushed rock to take advantage of the fines in it. It helps to bind the crushed stone together.

If the driveway is lacking in the base department, I put down 4-5" of roadbase. New driveways get 6". We have five types here. 1.5" caliche, 1" crushed concrete washout, peagravel flex base, 3/4" flexbase and recycled concrete. The flexbase materials are too dirty and contain too many fines. Recycled concrete is junk with chunks of rebar, plastic rebar chairs and vapor barrier in it. I use the caliche and concrete washout depending on the location. The caliche holds better on hills and places where extra thickness is needed, but unless the customer likes white slime in the rain, these driveways get topped with a good sprinkling of the 3/4" crushed limestone mentioned above. Concrete washout driveways can be left as-is, or topped with limestone too. I prefer the latter, vibratory rolled before and after the topping.

My competitors around here that still "do it the way daddy did" are actually my best salesmen. Keep tailgating material and using flexbase and 100% caliche guys...it's great for business!

 

[FTG-05]

Not sure if you have options but asphalt millings and if you can get crushed asphalt does a really good job on driveways. It packs much better than the gravel, finds, crushed gravel, crushed concrete, etc.. that I have used in the past. Around here we sell the millings for 10/ton and crushed asphalt for 14/ton, plus delivery.

So what kind of place do I call that sells asphalt millings etc? A couple months ago, I called the local (+15 miles away) asphalt company and asked about asphalt millings and they said they didn't sell it. I asked if they knew anyone that did and I got the "no speaka da engrish" answer.

I've got a one mile gravel driveway I maintain and there are two places where I have potholes and/or mudholes. I don't have $$$ to buy the +$350/load that rock goes for around here.

Thanks,

 

[Ivan49]

This is what I do with good results. I have a 10 foot spring tooth drag with a piece of oil well pipe on the back to level it out. I mark the low spots on the side so I know where they are at and then I work the heck out of it with the drag. I had 60 yards of gravel brought in when I built the house 25 years ago and have added to it once since. After I drag it I put the culipacker on and pack it down then I flaten it with the front bucket on my tractor. I only have to do this every couple of years and if I would stay off it with the skid steer it would not need it them. Our drive here is about 100 yard long and when I lived down state our drive there was an 1/8 mile long and that is what I did there also. Here the gravel pit is 5 miles away and gravel is cheap but hauling it is out of site. Last time I checked the wanted 400.00 for 10 yards of gravel. I told them I thought they used a truck not a wheel barrow.