driveway mostly cut, now what??

dirtyb115 · Jul 21, 2008

Hi all. Well finally got some time to get alot of work done on a driveway i am attempting to put in (for the last year now lol. ) The driveway will be about 700-800 ft long, and 500 ft of it are on a pretty steep incline. That being said, i am not sure what i want to do next. I really want to get some large gravel put down so i can finally have access to the proposed building site. However, i had planned on running electric under the drive when the time comes (still another couple of years away), so prolly not a good idea to lay gravel down huh? I thought about having the electric run off to the side of the driveway, but worry about excessive runoff water ect... Any thoughts?

Renze · Jul 21, 2008

Why not lay the utilities aside of the roadway ?

I live on a road that has been sand road, with giant oaks on both sides. In the 60's when the utilities went underground, they found it easier to dig in the center of the road to avoid the oak roots.

15 years ago, after complaints (when the weather forecasts rain, we had to call the pig feed supplier in advance, to get the feed before the road gets too muddy to carry the bulk truck !!!) they paved our road.
We didnt get asphalt because the utility lines are under the road. We got bricks so they could open up and repave when work had to be done on the utility lines.

Even if you do get utilities in first, i wouldnt want to pave over them. what if you put in an extra barn and need a connection from the road, a road light on that sharp turn that your wife finds so scary in winter time, or anything else ?

It might be a good idea to leave them accessible anyhow. You never know what changes in the future.

dirtyb115 · Jul 21, 2008

Yeah, i guess that is a good point, i would have to rip up any section of driveway to make repairs. Guess ill make it all a bit wider then and install the electric on the side when it comes time for electric.

EddieWalker · Jul 21, 2008

I can't speak for your location, but usually the electric lines need to be at least a foot down. Running them along the side of the road would be considered normal. You don't need to put them in the middle of the drainage ditch, but right next to the gravel or split the difference. Putting them under the gravel would be unusual due to the reason cited. If for some reason you need to get to it, you will have to destroy the road. Another reason is that gravel roads have a limited lifespan. If you have to redo it sometime in the future, there is always the risk of digging down and hitting the lines. Even when buried a foot deep, things have a way of changing over time. The longer the time, the more things change.

Another consideration is to have space for phone lines and water lines. If you have a well, that might not matter, but there are several posts on here of people on wells who want to run water to their front gates over similar distances.

Good luck,
Eddie

dtd24 · Jul 22, 2008

You can always run a piece of conduit, or pieces of conduit under the driveway where you think you may need to cross. You can do this for all utilities water, gas, electric, phone. Place a cap or tape the ends so it doesn't fill with dirt!!!

bob_wood · Jul 22, 2008

If it were me, I would check with my local power company to see what their requirements are. Are you running primary power to a transformer at your house location ? In my area the power company would require that the power cable be in conduit of a certain size and be buried at a minumum depth, probably 3 to 4 feet. Conduit needs to be in sand. They also require maintenance access ( manhole / box ) every so often too. Every area of the country will be different. We have to deal with frost up here in the Northeast

You also should think about telephone and cable ( TV ) .

Bob