Driveway Questions

[CurlyDave]

Well, our new house was finished about 6 weeks ago, and we are starting to move in.

We have about 1000' of driveway, 14' wide. Most of it has a grade of 15-16% and is pretty well made -- fabric, 1' to 5' of base rock (pit run shale) with 6" of 3/4" minus on top of it. The 3/4" - has been compacted into the base rock so it is really only about 3" thick now, but it is pretty well compacted. Drainage is good, and I will work on the few bad spots this spring to get it perfect.

Originally DW wanted to have it paved with asphalt next summer, but we have found that every year we get 2 or 3 snow storms and driving up an asphalt road with a few inches of snow on it is a lot harder than driving up a gravel road under the same conditions.

So the first big question is whether there is a low-maintenance way to pave the driveway which will provide good traction with modest (3" max) amounts of snow?

(What is chip seal, which has been mentioned?)

The second question is how to maintain the gravel driveway until it is paved, if ever, with this marvelous, mystery traction material.

I have a Frontier BB 1284 box blade (a real beast -- 72" wide, hydraulic rippers, 1250 lbs.) and a JD top-n-tilt, which could go on the 110 TLB. The problem I see is that if I rip up and redistribute the gravel on top of the road, it really needs to be re-compacted or it is just going to become a mess.

Is there an implement I need to re-compact the driveway? Back-drag with a bucket full of material? Tilt a full bucket slightly up and go forward to compact? Some kind of a roller?

Or, should I just forget the box blade and do something else?

 

[Egon]

Contracting - Chip Seal

A site explaining chip seal. It is added to an exisiting paved road. Just placed on gravel it will do no good. There is a lot of confusion on this point.

There are lots of other sites just Google.



In Alberta it was a regular addition to paved highways both for maintenance , traction and reflecting light giving more night time visibility.



Besides you have to do a little road maintenance just for exercise don't you???

 

[EddieWalker]

... and is pretty well made -- fabric, 1' to 5' of base rock (pit run shale) with 6" of 3/4" minus on top of it. The 3/4" - has been compacted into the base rock so it is really only about 3" thick now...

Dave,

Did you really put down five feet of base rock?

Driving over the road compacts it. The more you drive over it, the stronger it gets. The secret is how thick it is, and how good your drainage is. Mess with either of those two things, and it will start to disapear on you.

The biggest mistake that you can make, and it's very common, is to drag the rock around after it's been compacted. All this does is un-compact your rock, and make it thinner.

If the rock is less then four inches thick, it doesn not have any strength. Four inches or more and it compacts into a solid mass that will support heavy loads and shed water.

Over time, tires and rain will gradually wear away at the fines and the larger rocks willl work themselves free. Then you will get low spots with potholes apearing after awhile. Instead of damaging the entire road, just fix those low spots with fill.

Congratulations on your new home!!!!

Eddie

 

[rox]

Dave, 3" of snow? This is a problem? Coming from Wisconsin I guess we ust be more used to it. What we do is buy a vehicle that will take us tp our homes. When we built on top of a big hil we bought an suv. Your driveway seems ike an excellent build but with a good front wheel drive car or an suv i don't see where you would need to pave it at all. People who don't have the experience in driving in snow let fear take over, when realle the cars can make it through 3". 3" is not that much. Might try and have your wife drive with you as the passanger, to give her courage and support while she learns to get the hang of it. Practice and success will build confidence. I would put the money int a vehicle which you can use all the time rather than into asphalt.

 

[dfkrug]

(What is chip seal, which has been mentioned?)

"chip seal" is often used here in CA to maintain previously paved roads.
It consists of a spray of hot oil, then a layer of fine gravel, then a powered
roller drives on it.

Now that said, the minimum pavement our county allows is what they
call "double oil & screenings", consisting of 2 coats of the oil and 2
layers of the gravel, rolled betw oilings. Around here you can buy the oil
in a special trailer, borrowed from the asphalt plant. I suspect you really
need the 2 coats if you are not putting this down over existing pavement.

I think this is way better than gravel, and lots less money than A.C.
(asphalt). I went with asphalt myself, but I almost did the oil & screen.

 

[Shmudda]

Chip seal is the same as what we call "tar and feathered" here in Pennsylvania. See our great state road departement here in the land of taxes would rather tar and feather a road before fixing it right!

Craig

 

[CurlyDave]

Dave,

Did you really put down five feet of base rock?

Eddie

The earthmoving subcontractor is also the primary local supplier of quarry rock.

The driveway followed an old skid road up the mountain and local code said it shouldn't be more than 15% grade, 18% for short stretches.

It turns out we could do 15%, but had to fill in a few valleys, so they built them up with more base rock. It is at least 5' deep in some spots.

Congratulations on your new home!!!!

Thanks. I retired last April or May & have been living in Oregon since then.
DW is still holding down the fort at the old house in CA, but she is up here about half time.

 

[RFB]

Dave,

I sort of vote with rox regarding the snow. 4 wheel drive (at least in my neck o the woods) is ubiquitous, and even without it, 3 inches is just a light dusting.

My neighbor has a little front-wheel drive commuter doorstop-sized car (to use instead of his F350 4wd). He has no trouble jamming up 1 mile of 10% grade in 6 inches of snow.

If your area is cold, let that 3 inches stay and pack down. It becomes a nice solid base to plow over. If its not cold, it melts soon enough.

 

[Kays Supply]

In Illinois we call it "Tar & chip". Most of all the rural roads are done this way, and a big part of the city roads. A factor in my area , blacktop is taxed extra and tar and chip is not. I have a few hundred feet of blacktop, I put a heavy plastic wear strip on my blade. It hasn't snowed since I made the investment two years ago.

 

[CurlyDave]

I sort of vote with rox regarding the snow. 4 wheel drive (at least in my neck o the woods) is ubiquitous, and even without it, 3 inches is just a light dusting.

There are two conditions where life gets "interesting" even with 4WD.

The first is a few inches of wet snow on a steep paved road. The tires pack the wet snow down into ice right under them. We have 4WD and even with it, all 4 tires were spinning all the way up the paved road.

The second one is "black ice" where dew will form on the road and then freeze solid. There is just no traction on asphalt and nearly stopped vehicles have slid off a banked road.

Neither of these is any problem at all on a gravel road.