Gravel driveway reinforcement - any advice?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Gravel driveway reinforcement - any advice?

Posted: 10/9/2012 10:54:51 AM EDT

Sometime in the near future I'm planning to build a gravel driveway, and I want to put something below the gravel to reinforce it and to help keep dirt from being pushed up through the rock. I'm thinking of something like a heavy-duty plastic mesh, like snow barrier. Does anyone know where to find something like that?

Posted: 10/9/2012 10:56:59 AM EDT

[#1]

Landscaping fabric.

You can get the stuff at Lowes or you can special order it up to 20 feet wide on rolls that need heavy equipment to move it.

I looked into it when I did my drive, but since I'm going to pave over it in a couple of years and I have a really hard base I passed on it.

ETA: Check this.

http://www.usfabricsinc.com/geotextileapplications/haulroad

Posted: 10/9/2012 10:57:50 AM EDT

[#2]

check the larger landscape supply yards for a woven geotextile fabric. I buy mine in 12'x300' rolls. We use this behind retaining walls, below pavers etc... It helps keep the dirt from commingling with your base or aggregate. I would excavate down, then lay the fabric, then put a compactable base such as #411 or #304, compact with a plate compactor then spread your #57 limestone. make sure you do angular stone (not gravel/river rock) the angles help interlock them. the geotex allows water to flow as well

Posted: 10/9/2012 10:59:45 AM EDT

[#3]

We used a load of shell rock. Concrete wash can also work. Makes a great and sturdy foundation for a gravel road.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:02:19 AM EDT

[#4]

The driveway is going to be over 450' long and at least 10' wide, so the cheaper the better.

What about rip-rap (8"-10") gravel? Would that work as a good base and help keep the gravel from sinking? Or would a fabric or mesh work better?

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:04:04 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
We used a load of shell rock. Concrete wash can also work. Makes a great and sturdy foundation for a gravel road.

If you put down a shit load of dry cement and do the gravel over it, it'll pick up water from the ground and set up on its own. The gravel won't go anywhere. What kind of dirt and what kind of traffic weight-wise?

In Iraq we did tons of gravel on dirt for heavy trucks and once it got mudded once or twice and dried out it'd turn into concrete almost.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:04:45 AM EDT

[#6]

I believe i pay about 330 per roll (12x300) at my contractor rate.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:07:39 AM EDT

[#7]

A guy pitched me a product exactly like what you are looking for about a year ago or so. Plastic injection molded into inter-locking grates, then he said they take a smaller size rock or gravel and sweep it into the voids.

I'll try to find his card/info. and get back to you with it.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:09:37 AM EDT

[#8]

Why is the material pushing up through? Are you removing all the organic material prior to laying down the gravel? Are you over loading he gravel with too heavy a vehicle? Are you placing the gravel down on saturated soils? Too thin of a lift of gravel? Gravel size too small?

Too many use expensive geotextiles in the wrong application.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:10:22 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Why is the material pushing up through? Are you removing all the organic material prior to laying down the gravel? Are you over loading he gravel with too heavy a vehicle? Are you placing the gravel down on saturated soils? Too thin of a lift of gravel? Gravel size too small? Too many use expensive geotextiles in the wrong application.

i support this post.

ar-jedi

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:15:46 AM EDT

[#10]

1 minus rock, then drive on it for 5 to 10 years. Add more rock as needed along the way.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:16:01 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
The driveway is going to be over 450' long and at least 10' wide, so the cheaper the better.

What about rip-rap (8"-10") gravel? Would that work as a good base and help keep the gravel from sinking? Or would a fabric or mesh work better?

8 to 10 pit run will be too big. 3 inch minus will make a good base. Excavate, compact, geo textile, 3 inch, compact again, (ideally) another layer of geotextile and 3/4 or 1 inch minus fractured face rock and compacted again. That will hold a log truck and keep your rock and dirt from commingling.

Do it as right as you can the first time to save over the long run.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:16:06 AM EDT

[#12]

What does your highway builders use?

I just used 6" of road base and 3/4" washed rock on top. It's lasted for 15 years, now, except where I park, the tires sink in a bit.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:17:04 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
The driveway is going to be over 450' long and at least 10' wide, so the cheaper the better.
What about rip-rap (8"-10") gravel? Would that work as a good base and help keep the gravel from sinking? Or would a fabric or mesh work better?

identify the root cause of the problem(s) before trying for a solution by deer hunting in the dark:

http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/gravelroads_index.cfm

and dozens of others at
https://www.google.com/search?q=gravel+road+maintenance+manual

ar-jedi

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:20:05 AM EDT

[#14]

I do this kind of work for a living both on DOT built highways and private subdivision roads and drive ways. They make a special type of fabic just for this and it looks like heavy duty silt fence but is 10 to 12 feet wide and can be brought by the foot or the roll. Around here it is call stabilization fabic or mat and you roll it out and pin it down with the fabic pins to keep it from moving and then cover with gravel.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:20:57 AM EDT

[#15]

The standard landscape fabric at places like Lowes, etc. is way too lightweight (thin). If you use that it will be a total waste of money and will not last.

As someone else has said, you need to strip the topsoil first, grade the sub grade and compact it, hopefully it is a good clay base. Then you want to add what we call in the trade, pug mix. It is a base stone product with water added and once it is compacted will be just about like concrete.

One other thing, most people do not know how to drive on a gravel driveway. Do not drive in the ruts. You will need to re-grade it periodically to keep it consistent and draining properly.

PS: I do this for a living and grew up on gravel driveways.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:24:43 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Why is the material pushing up through? Are you removing all the organic material prior to laying down the gravel? Are you over loading he gravel with too heavy a vehicle? Are you placing the gravel down on saturated soils? Too thin of a lift of gravel? Gravel size too small? Too many use expensive geotextiles in the wrong application.

i support this post.

ar-jedi

I haven't built the driveway yet, but I want it to be built to last without a lot of maintenance. The topsoil will be scraped off down to about 8", and the soil there is clay-silt-loam, so perhaps I don't need a reinforcing base, but I like the idea of longevity. The driveway will rarely have any large vehicles on it.

Posted: 10/9/2012 11:28:20 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:

Quoted:
We used a load of shell rock. Concrete wash can also work. Makes a great and sturdy foundation for a gravel road.

If you put down a shit load of dry cement and do the gravel over it, it'll pick up water from the ground and set up on its own. The gravel won't go anywhere. What kind of dirt and what kind of traffic weight-wise?

In Iraq we did tons of gravel on dirt for heavy trucks and once it got mudded once or twice and dried out it'd turn into concrete almost.

Concrete wash or washout is not concrete. It's the debris left over from concrete production operations. Including the cleanings from the trucks, possibly crushed concrete and other "junk". It makes an excellent, hard road base for paved, brick and gravel roads. In some areas it's quite inexpensive. In others, it's absurdly expensive.

I'd much rather have a good solid base for a road, than plastic or fabric under gravel.

Posted: 10/9/2012 12:31:08 PM EDT

[#18]

Use a geogrid. There are many companies that make it, Tensar being one of the most expensive. The last one I used on a project is holding up a 24' tall, 18" thick double reinforced concrete wall on a swamp. It took 3 alternating layers of 1-1/2' crushed aggregate (1-ft depth) and geogrid., but as near as I can discern, there has been minimal settlement, and no concrete cracking. When I say swamp, I meant it. We dug down to the water table, and I was afraid that we would lose the dozer because the soil was pumping so much. The relative compaction was less than 80% on the first lift, about 85% on the second lift, and over 95% on the third lift with less than 1/4" deflection with a fully loaded belly dump.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Gravel driveway reinforcement - any advice?

General » General Discussion

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us