Road Cover Options
- Thread starter BamaB99
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bigtiller
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The best? Concrete, second best, white rock
RNeumann
Elite Member
Is red clay base normal there? Clay would be considered the worst “base” you could get. In fact most would remove a foot or so of clay and then bring in inorganic material. I say that because I don’t want to see you add a bunch of imported material and see it wasted as it sinks into the clay.
The imported material you want has several names. Your Rock quarry will know exactly what you need. It’s called Class 2 base, crusher run, 3/4 minus or 1 1/4 minus depending on the area. It’s basically all crushed stone that has a mix or 3/4” or so rock and finer material. It all compacts into a tight driving surface.
If the red clay turns out to be.....well clay. I’d add a road fabric over it before I put the imported material down. You will need to create separation between the two.
The imported material you want has several names. Your Rock quarry will know exactly what you need. It’s called Class 2 base, crusher run, 3/4 minus or 1 1/4 minus depending on the area. It’s basically all crushed stone that has a mix or 3/4” or so rock and finer material. It all compacts into a tight driving surface.
If the red clay turns out to be.....well clay. I’d add a road fabric over it before I put the imported material down. You will need to create separation between the two.
The fill dirt is called sandy loam I believe.
Crushed croncrete or actual concrete? Can稚 afford to get it paved.
RNeumann
Elite Member
If cost is an issue you can often save by buying recycled asphalt and or concrete. It will have the same general makeup- 3/4” chunks down to fines- it will work just like something out of a quarry- but cheaper and maybe not as ascetically pleasing.
I think I’d add a road fabric between the sand loam and the imported material.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Best is what your county and city uses for their roads.
Clay is not an organic material, loam is. Organic means that their is plant matter decomposing in it. Clay is a silt type material that has dozens of different names because it varies depending on what it's made up of. Here, red clay is the most desirable fill material because it compacts extremely well, it sheds water when compacted and it holds the weight of a building easily. Some people might confuse what happens when water puddles on the surface of clay soils as creating mud, when in fact it's holding water and there isn't anyplace for the water to drain to.
Build up your roads with the red clay so that there are ditches on either side of the road to allow water to run off of the road and away. Compact the clay. For my personal home, I put a full load of dirt in my front bucket and then go over the clay with my front tires over and over again. Your city and county will use a vibratory roller to compact it in small lifts of about 4 inches. Just dump it, spread it, then compact it until you get it up to where you want it.
Road base gravel consists of a variety of different sized rock that has been crushed. The crushed part is very important. Those jagged edges allow the rock to compact with each other to form a solid surface that will shed water. It needs to be at least 4 inches thick, with thicker being better. I watched Oak Island and saw that they put down well over a foot for their roads, which was very impressive. The rock also needs a lot of water to set up. At first, this will make the rock mushy, but once it dries out, it will be super hard. The best way to get enough water on it is a heavy rain. Ideally you don't want to drive over it right after that first big rain since so much water will soak into it, but then after a few days, it will harden up and you will see a huge difference.
The type of rock used and the name given to it varies around the country. This is why you need to find out what your city and county use when they build their roads. Here in East Texas, we call it "Roadbase" or "Cliche" which is crushed limestone.
Clay is not an organic material, loam is. Organic means that their is plant matter decomposing in it. Clay is a silt type material that has dozens of different names because it varies depending on what it's made up of. Here, red clay is the most desirable fill material because it compacts extremely well, it sheds water when compacted and it holds the weight of a building easily. Some people might confuse what happens when water puddles on the surface of clay soils as creating mud, when in fact it's holding water and there isn't anyplace for the water to drain to.
Build up your roads with the red clay so that there are ditches on either side of the road to allow water to run off of the road and away. Compact the clay. For my personal home, I put a full load of dirt in my front bucket and then go over the clay with my front tires over and over again. Your city and county will use a vibratory roller to compact it in small lifts of about 4 inches. Just dump it, spread it, then compact it until you get it up to where you want it.
Road base gravel consists of a variety of different sized rock that has been crushed. The crushed part is very important. Those jagged edges allow the rock to compact with each other to form a solid surface that will shed water. It needs to be at least 4 inches thick, with thicker being better. I watched Oak Island and saw that they put down well over a foot for their roads, which was very impressive. The rock also needs a lot of water to set up. At first, this will make the rock mushy, but once it dries out, it will be super hard. The best way to get enough water on it is a heavy rain. Ideally you don't want to drive over it right after that first big rain since so much water will soak into it, but then after a few days, it will harden up and you will see a huge difference.
The type of rock used and the name given to it varies around the country. This is why you need to find out what your city and county use when they build their roads. Here in East Texas, we call it "Roadbase" or "Cliche" which is crushed limestone.
MossRoad
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If you're talking about slag from steel mills, I find it to be superior to recycled asphalt and concrete and crushed rock and about anything else I can think of. It has so many differing sized pores, angles, edges, etc... that it locks together and never moves. It's very similar to lava rock, but heavy.
Xfaxman
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We are having good results with crushed asphalt. It is supposed to be better than millings.