What is the best way to maintain a gravel road?

[dougfrancie]

:confused3:Along with six neighbors, we live on a mile-long private road. We all cooperate with road maintenance, but each one has a different idea of what should be done.

Should the road be graded or does that weaken the road base over time?

What is the best type of gravel or stone to use? What size?

Is there a reliable source of information on this subject that we can access and so provide a written copy to each property owner?

HELP!

 

[Soggy Bottom Outdoors]

I to live in Ky and several miles of gravel roads to maintain. Some I own and some are part of land leases. First thing is get the water off the road weather it be by ditching, angling the roadbed or other means. I usually just use a grader blade on a tractor. I angle it to throw loose gravel to the center, a couple passes down each side usually does it. Then I reverse the blade and drive a little faster down the center to smooth/scatter the gravel back out. If you do it after a rain you can get a better "cut" with the blade. I usually use what I call "dense grade" grade gravel. It has a lot of lime in it and packs very well. If I have a spot that is soft or gets a lot a heavy grain truck traffic or if I'm building a new road I use 2's or 3's(about fist sized maybe a bit smaller). I've used 5's on roads that are solid but yet heavy load traffic, as well as 57's. My Dad uses 9's or 12's in his parking area. They are about the size of a marble or a dime. He says its a lot nicer to walk on. On some roads that don't get used much I will "track" the gravel. I'll put a "block" in the center of the truck bed up next to the tailgate and set my chains for a few inches. When I raise the bed and trip the latch I can spread the rock to each side or in the "tracks" of a vehicle.

 

[DKCDKC]

My drive is a mile long gravel - and right now - with melting snow - looks terrible. But it holds up pretty well overall. For much of it I put in 2 inch stone first, then about half-inch stuff, topped with crusher run. Normally I can manage it for about three years before adding a bit of new gravel. I use the scraper blade - and sometimes an old landscape rake - to pull scattered gravel back into the center, then use a box blade to level and smooth the center. I deliberately built the drive wider than normal so I could plow snow with most of the stone scraped up still on the gravel surface. It has worked well. I think the box blade is the most useful tool I have for the driveway. I bought box blade, rake and scraper blade all used for a total of about $400. I think used is the best way to go for such things because you can see any damage and know exactly what you're paying for.

 

[jix]

My drive is a mile long gravel - and right now - with melting snow - looks terrible. But it holds up pretty well overall. For much of it I put in 2 inch stone first, then about half-inch stuff, topped with crusher run. Normally I can manage it for about three years before adding a bit of new gravel. I use the scraper blade - and sometimes an old landscape rake - to pull scattered gravel back into the center, then use a box blade to level and smooth the center. I deliberately built the drive wider than normal so I could plow snow with most of the stone scraped up still on the gravel surface. It has worked well. I think the box blade is the most useful tool I have for the driveway. I bought box blade, rake and scraper blade all used for a total of about $400. I think used is the best way to go for such things because you can see any damage and know exactly what you're paying for.

I do agree..a box blade or a box rake works well, but gravel will never stay put...you have to do It two or three times a year, depending upon rainfall and underlaying soil type.

 

[ruffdog]

Yep, same as Soggy here (post #2). Crown it....get the water off.

 

[techman]

I have a 6/10 mile drive which was gravel for 15 years. I put 1,000,000 lbs of stone on it initially (yes 25 20 ton triaxle loads) which was about 4" thick. I had it gate spread. I used 2B modified which packed fairly well. The "packing" was by driving on it as I did not have access to a roller. It did well, but needed 10-20 tons a year to fill in pot holes, mostly resulting from winter freeze-thaw. The biggest issue was ingesting stones in the tractor mounted snow blower. After 4-5 years this mostly subsided as big stones were gone from the top and overall packing down continued over time. When we eventually paved it, the contractor said that the stones were a good solid base and no additional stone was needed.

Paul

 

[RedNeckRacin]

EPA Dirt and Gravel Road Maintenance


read this.

 

[RichardGD]

My neighbors and I covered ours with recycled asphalt for about $300/load. Originally took about 15 loads to cover our mile long shared drive. The dump trucks were able to tailgate and spread fairly well. Just had to smoothe out with our box blades. Parts in the sun/heat melt back together and has held up well. Every couple years we get an additional 5 loads to skim coat and clean it up. No more mud and very few pot holes to fill in.

 

[Industrial Toys]

This may not be the answer you are looking for, but the best thing you can do is preventative. Get people (and yourself) to stop driving in the middle and through the pot holes! I have a narrow gravel driveway and doing this even keeps the weeds from growing in the middle and just off to the sides.