Gravel Driveway using Grid products to reduce washout

[jhendric]

Folks, I'm getting a bit tired of the continuous regrading of my gravel road. I'm wondering if anyone has experience using a product like this: How to Stabilize a Steep Gravel Driveway - TRUEGRID Pavers is this legit or snake oil?

 

[BlueKnife]

Definitely wouldn't work for heavy truck traffic or if you were pushing snow off of it very often. It also is not going to prevent potholes from forming, and if they do, it will make them more difficult to repair.

 

[M59]

Folks, I'm getting a bit tired of the continuous regrading of my gravel road. I'm wondering if anyone has experience using a product like this: How to Stabilize a Steep Gravel Driveway - TRUEGRID Pavers is this legit or snake oil?

So many questions, I have, and so few answers.
1 Pictures on web site site are new installation. What does it look like after one year, two year, 5 years, etc?
2 What is the base these snap together plastic things get placed onto and what is cost to build that base?
3 I would expect any dirt road built using these plastic sheets to show a ridge in the middle of the driveway due to traffic. How do you fix or prevent the ridge?
4 What is final cost ( product + installation ) for whatever amount of driveway you have and how does this compare to other solutions such as concrete or paying someone to maintain driveway?
5 What happens when someone spins their tires on this material? Will it break the grid or pull up sections?
6 What happens when it rains heavy and water runs off the grid edge and undermines the edge?

Bottom line - Looks like snake oil to me UNTIL proven otherwise.

 

[Blue Mule]

Are you having issues because your driveway is at an incline? Or are these problems with a relatively level/flat driveway?

My driveway is 500 feet or slightly more. I installed it 8 years ago. Laid heavy duty fabric down the entire length of it, then covered with #2 crushed stone, worked that in real good, then covered with #57 crushed stone, worked that in, then topped it off with "dense grade" gravel. The road has held up amazingly well with zero pot holes so far. The only part I have trouble with is the one 50' section that climbs a roughly 10% grade. That small section has given me some trouble. What helped the most was digging storm water runoff ditches 8" deep on both sides along that hill. That helped a LOT. But in heavy torrential storms it'll still wash out on that hill somewhat. It's just a war that's hard to win.

 

[MotorSeven]

"
The installation process is also quick and easy, and is also one of the best options for building a gravel driveway on a hill. First, the desired paving area is excavated to a depth of about 12 inches and a piece of fabric is laid at the bottom to prevent gravel migration. Then, gravel is poured in to fill the pit and then it is easily compacted with a heavy roller or ordinary vehicle..

Next, the TRUEGRID pavers are easily snapped together like LEGO® blocks and laid over the top, with more gravel being poured over them and pressed into their surface. Once this is complete, vehicles can begin driving over the driveway to compact the pavers."

No way I would dig up my 1/3rd of a mile driveway to do this. It's already compacted from 13 years of driving on it. Just an observation, but on a steep incline, would the gravel not get partially scraped out of the panels revealing the plastic matrix?

 

[Topzide]

As another way to deal with water on a grade: find some used straight guard rail, lay this into the gravel at an angle across the face of grade. This will help channel the water off and into the drainage ditches on each side. You could stake them down through the bolt holes, although I don't think that would be necessary.
Best part is, being on an angle, you can plow over them. Just an idea to try if you like.

 

[M59]

Looking at this another way. What is the cost for a 4 inch thick concrete slab at 9 feet wide based on concrete material only.

If your going to excavate 12 inches to build a base for the plastic grid, why not excavate 8 inches and put in 4 inch gravel base and then add 4 inch wire reinforced concrete?

To build the plastic grid surface requires 12 inch deep stone base at 9 wide by 3 running feet of driveway is one cubic yard of stone, at a delivered cost of $40 ( approx) and add the plastic grid which is either $2.89 of $4.38 per square foot according to their web site. Larger quantities are quoted.

Presume concrete price is $150 a yard. A 4 inch by 9 foot wide by 9 running feet slab of concrete is a cubic yard, so $150 divided by 81 square feet yields a price per square foot of $1.85 for material.

The concrete will require a 4 inch base at approx cost of $0.50 per square foot

Sum of concrete base plus concrete slab per square foot is $2.15 or less than either one of the grid costs for grid only.

I've not included labor or machine time cost for either since presumed roughly equal so a wash.

Am I missing anything?

 

[MotorSeven]

Concrete here is now just under $190yd.....before Covid it was $140 ish. Anytime I see a new concrete driveway I get concrete envy. But at approx 1500 running feet, it ain't happening, so gravel it is.

 

[BlueKnife]

I've not included labor or machine time cost for either since presumed roughly equal so a wash.

Am I missing anything?

Probably missing the fact that concrete is going to cost him at least $7-10/sq. ft. Unless he's a concrete contractor (and given the question he's asking, it's a fair bet that he isn't) it's going to cost him far more to have concrete poured than it would to put down this plastic grid. I'm not saying the plastic is a good idea (I don't think that it is) but it's definitely much cheaper than concrete.

 

[paulsharvey]

So, first, Why do you keep regrading the driveway?
Is it settling? This grid isn't going to solve a subgrade issue.
Are you the type that regrades cause you see grass growing? This isn't going to solve that, and if you care that much, look at chip seal, asphalt, or concrete.
Is it erosion? This might help some, but its not likely cost effective. Try to solve the source of the erosion first. If it can't be addressed with ditches, crown, ect, maybe consider the grid or asphalt/chip seal/micropave/concrete
Is your existing "gravel" drive a washed rock or river rock drive, and the material keeps moving? This would likely help, but I would consider a roadbase type material first.

With gravel/rock/stabalized drives, there are a couple keys.
1) drainage
2) material, not a washed rock or river rock, need a road base type material
3) compaction, the subgrade should have been compacted. It's too late for that, and if the base is rutting/sinking, consider just adding roadbase once every few years.
4) expectations/appareances; grass in the center doesn't affect function.
5) once it's placed/compacted, quit grading it unless it really needs it. Every time you grade it, you loose it up, you let moisture out, and you accelerate pulling fines out, and segregate your base material