To fix a mud hole!

[jyoutz]

What I described in post #24 is how we do road crossings of live streams on little used forest roads. It works well and holds up for years as long as the rock base is large and heavy enough not to sink in the mud. We run log trucks over these crossings successfully. During high water, the wheels get wet, but the crossing remains solid and not boggy.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Years ago, I had a mud hole on the tractor road leading to my back acreage. There was no way to effectively drain it so I made it passable by raising the grade using old railroad ties. A nearby rail line was being torn out and the contractor was happy to get rid of some. I spread a load of 2B stone and laid the ties side by side perpendicular to the road with an inch or two between them to allow water to flow across. Some have rotted away over the years but the mud hole never returned.

It wasn't as long a stretch as yours though, so the scheme may not be practical for you.

WHAT!! You are saying raising up a roadbed above the level of the surrounding land will keep it dry and it will cease to be a mud hole? NO WAY!! Who would have thunk it?!?
Never thought about railroad ties. Thanks for that idea.

 

[Eagle1]

Around here they laid all concrete rail ties and then removed them because they did not work well. There are thousands sitting next to the tracks and free to use if you can haul them home. I've used a lot but there is never ending supply out there. Once you place them they don't move or rot out in a few years. I have a couple of crossings using them. High water goes over but they remain solid not muddy.

 

[bdhsfz6]

WHAT!! You are saying raising up a roadbed above the level of the surrounding land will keep it dry and it will cease to be a mud hole? NO WAY!! Who would have thunk it?!?
Never thought about railroad ties. Thanks for that idea.

The railroad ties don't dry out the hole. They stay above the level of the water providing a stable surface to ride on. I should have made that point clearer.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

The railroad ties don't dry out the hole. They stay above the level of the water providing a stable surface to ride on. I should have made that point clearer.

I understood completely. Sounds like a great plan to me, but I will probably use concrete chunks.

 

[airbiscuit]

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

On US 93 in Nevada, there is Pahranagat Lake to the south of Alamo, Nevada. If you look at an aerial, you can see that US93 crosses sections of the lake. The Highway Department spent years hauling truck loads of 36-inch minus, 8-inch plus rock in order to build a base for US 93. The trucks would back in and dump, then a dozer would push the rock out and, roll over it until they bridged the muck. They kept hauling big rock until they bridged the muck and got several feet above high water. Then started with smaller rock and aggregate to build the roadway prism.

There are no culverts. Water migrates through the coarse rock pretty quickly. It was built in the mid sixties. Still works just fine..

 

[CobyRupert]

That looks more like a ditch than a road. I wouldn’t fill in the ditch as you’ll need one when you have a road.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Haul enough material and the rest of the road will be a mud hole so then you will need to keep hauling some for the rest of it ... soooo mine as well to start backfilling from the start.

 

[Viny]

I put a drive through a natural birch tree arbor that was nothing but sand. There was obviously some subsurface water moving through the area as enough use caused it to liquify and fail. I ended up having my gravel man dump a few loads of slag from a steel smelter in there as a foundation to build on. Worked like a champ, ended up gravel for a while then eventually paved it. Good luck!