Dirt Moving how do you build a driveway...

[agarland]

how wide is your average drive way and and how high should it be using gravel.

 

[Mark Page]

12 ft wide and 6 inches deep using ground cloth between the bottom 2's and the top 6's

 

[MarkV]

Personally I think it all has to do with your area and soil type. Many here with deep top soil need to strip 6-12" down, then use a road fabric so the gravel doesn't get lost in the soil below and then put multiple layers of gravel of varies sizes to build a base and finish drive. In my area where we have little top soil, a clay and stone mix soil it is very stable and we put about 3" of a 2" gravel and top it with about 3" of a crushed gravel mixed with gravel dust. (crusher run) That seems to hold up fine if the drive is set up to drain well. All depends on your situation.

MarkV

 

[jomar215]

pavingexpert.com is an encyclopedic source for all this paved. They have a page or two dedicated to the different layers of a driveway, etc. I would start there if I were you.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Well it depends on the soil type your dealing with and the amount of winter weather your site is exposed to and the number and weight of the vehicles that will be using the drive. Slab city in the dessert and you can just mow tight the cacti and drive on it. Up hear in Vt if you have fuel trucks making deliveries in the spring when things get mushy then you might start with 8-8-8, eight inches of sand covered by eight of bank run gravel then eight inches of crushed gravel or crushed stone mix,all on a sub-grade cut and shaped to drain and place the top course a little above the surrounding ground. Being down south you can get by with a lot less unless your in clay with a lot of ground water. If your drive has any length to it is should be wide enough for two cars to pass, say fourteen feet or so.

 

[etcallhome]

Personally I would make it 13' or even 14' wide ,but no less than 13'. That way you can park close to either side and still have room to walk around car or truck without walking in the grass. If a 2 car garage make it 26 or 28' wide , make garage if you can the same size.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Depends on the soil in your area, I put down a layer 3in of larger stone and topped it off with a load of 57's and it has held up for 7 years. the short area that I dug out took a lot more, I think because the water sunk in instead or running off. The big thing is, water, if it sets in your driveway it will cause problems.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Depends on the soil in your area, I put down a layer 3in of larger stone and topped it off with a load of 57's and it has held up for 7 years. the short area that I dug out took a lot more, I think because the water sunk in instead or running off. The big thing is, water, if it sets in your driveway it will cause problems.

Plus one to that.

 

[dakotagun]

related question: if my drive crosses a slope, the drive will cause a dam. using your above gravel/rock suggestions, how many/how large diameter of drain pipe would place at the base to move water? i have about 200 feet of driveway to create, and think i'll need to have it cut into the grade but am worried about rain/melting snow damming up.

 

[shortthrow50]

I actually worked was a foreman/ operator for a paving company for a few years. Your question is kinda vague but ill stay short and basic. Your driveway can be as wide as you want. Most of the time it would be 10 foot miniumum but 12 foot wide on avaerage. On a new driveway, you cut/ strip the topsoil down to subsoil and then stone with 4- 6 inches of 2A or 3A modified depending (thats 2 inch or 3 inch dirty stone). All depends on your conditions. If there is extremely wet conditions, i would undercut the sloppy areas down to dry subsiloil and put down 4 inch tire scrubber and then 2 or 3a on top. After you have your sub base down, not required but recomende is to drive on it for a couple weeks after it has been rolled to pack it down before paving. For paving, i would put down 2 inches of binder and then one inch of top. Or if you want to go cheaper, you can do the whole thing in airport mix. I threw in the elementary terms in case you call the quarry to order the stone yourself. I have done many many driveways for a reputable aving company just fyi and still do them for a local builder.

ps, never have used fabric unless i hit a natural spring where i had to divert the flowof the running springs. After the spring diversion with rip rap, i have fabriced on top of that and then modified on top of that

 

[rmk700]

related question: if my drive crosses a slope, the drive will cause a dam. using your above gravel/rock suggestions, how many/how large diameter of drain pipe would place at the base to move water? i have about 200 feet of driveway to create, and think i'll need to have it cut into the grade but am worried about rain/melting snow damming up.

As long as it's not a continuous stream a 12 inch pipe should be adequate.

 

[shortthrow50]

related question: if my drive crosses a slope, the drive will cause a dam. using your above gravel/rock suggestions, how many/how large diameter of drain pipe would place at the base to move water? i have about 200 feet of driveway to create, and think i'll need to have it cut into the grade but am worried about rain/melting snow damming up.

No way to know for sure without looking at the volume of water and knowing how much water flows on your property buddy. **** i would just do 2- side by side 12 inchers under the driveway and not one large one so its not so big. Nobody knows but you the amount of water flow. you got any video? ?

 

[dakotagun]

Sorry about the lack of info. My driveway will run from the road across much of my lot to the house. A lot used to be a wheat field, so no running water but a slope right to left as you drive across it. so there is no running water, just rain and melting snow. It is mostly clay. Maybe I can post a picture later it's getting late in the season for this, hence my anxiety. Move-in date is about a month, only two months late.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Yes it is a matter of how large an area up hill from the drive drains across the drive. If it is small enough, which it may well be on just a 200 foot drive ,you can grade in a side ditch as you build that will carry the water down to the side ditch of the street your drive ends at. You may need a drive pipe and a permit at the street anyway to keep your drive from interrupting the drainage flow there. If your drive was longer and intercepting a couple of acres worth of runoff you would have to let it pass to the low side with a culvert under your drive every three hundred feet or so with ,as was said, the exact sizes and spacing determined by the drainage area and predicted peek flow.
Just to add in after your last post, if your house is lower then the entrance at the road you will want to let the water cross under the drive so as to not channel it down to the house and yard.