Suggestoins on fixing an old gravel road

[bkuhn]

I was hoping some of you out there might have some suggestions on how to rehabilitate an old gravel road that I have on my property. The road was put in about 10 years ago and is made of gravel/rock ranging from .5 in to about 2 or 3 inch pieces. It's well packed and at one time was probably a great road, but over time it's been covered with mud and manure. In some places it's still very good, but in others (particularly in areas where animals were kept) there is 2 to 3 inches of mud and manure on it. I've run a scraper blade over some parts and that definitely helps, but ultimately it is still very soupy in the winter when the rain comes. I can't do much more removal with the blade because i'm beginning to tear up the well packed gravel and plenty of mud is still left.

I'm wondering if there is any hope for this road or if I need to start again and bring in a bunch more gravel? The road is about 1000 feet total so I'm sure hoping to avoid that. Any suggestions?

I was wondering if I took a box blade and set the rippers below the blade and pulled all the gravel up so that it could repack if that would do the trick? I'm not sure if that would allow the smaller materail (aka mud) to settle down below the larger rocks and gravel or if I'd just end up with the same problem?

If anyone has any experience with road building and has any suggestions I'd sure apprecaite it.

Thanks in advance!
Brad

 

[JoeinTX]

Not knowing or seeing your road, with the cost of base material what it is, I would do what I could to recover it.

You say a lot of waste material has accumulated in certain areas? I would try to my best ability to scrape that off of the road first. Then I would work the road over start to finish. Rebuild the roadbed with the material that is there.

Do you have a regular rear mount angle/grader blade in addition to the box blade you mentioned? If so, great, use it to move any gravel back onto the road as you try to crown the road and then repack. If not, angle your box blade to pull the material back up on the road. Essentially you want any gravel that has washed/wallowed out back on the road and then pack it. Make sure you build "dumps" or water diversions to run water off of the road.


It is surprising what one can do with a litte gravel, a little packing, and little time with a simple blade to fix erosion problems.

 

[Egon]

Sounds like Joe's got it pegged.

 

[EddieWalker]

Without pics, it's a guessing game. There are a few clues that you gave that make me think you'll have to bring in more gravel.

First, you said that the rock is one to two inches thick. This is your biggest problem. For gravel to lock together and support vehicle traffic, you need at least 4 inches of rock. This allows the small fines to lock together the larger rocks into a solid mass. Any thinner and the rock won't be able to lock itself together.

Mud and dirt on top of the road doesn't really do any harm if the road has enough rock and there is drainage on either side. It will just sit there until the rains wash it off or vehicle traffic breaks it down. This is the next clue that you won't be able to fix what you have and will need more rock. The road needs to be taller then the land on either side of it. The road should shed water off of it as quickly as possible. Then the drainage should carry the water away from the road. No puddles or standing water.

Those are the basics for all roads. You must have these two things happening for your road to function properly, and to last. The better you do it, the longer it will last. I have a gravel road on my land that the US Army built in 1942. I live in an area that gets 4 ft of rain per year on average, and that road is still in good condition.

Things get complicated if you are driving heavy equipment over it and if you have to cross wet areas. Since this isn't something you mentioned, that's not an issue.

Get the drainage working good, then bring in enough rock to give you enough thickness to create a solid mass. When you have a low spot develop, fill it with fresh rock. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to drag the road with a boxblade. All this does is weaken the compaction of the rock and thin it down. Without a seal coat over the rock, like blacktop, the rock will natural disapear with usage. The more you use it, the faster this will happen. Expect to have to add rock to it every five years on average.

A belly dump trailer will hold 27 to 28 tones of rock. This will give you a new road that is 4 inches thick, 8 feet wide and 100 feet long. Figure out what rock sells for in your area and buy 270 tons, plus or minus a few tons.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[Aquaman]

When repairing some spots in my DW a while back, I rented a plate compactor to re-pack the gravel. I couldn't believe how well it worked packing the gravel and smoothing it. I ended up doing the whole DW with it and most of it is still smooth and level. Highly recommended!!!