How to fix eroded away dirt driveway?

[venturesomerite]

Ok, so like it says, I've got a dirt driveway, which I absolutely cannot afford to pave in asphalt, which would be nice . What ever I do needs to be relatively affordable, since I also will have to put a new roof on come spring . I'm hoping 1k or less.

It's about 250' or so long, and varries between 12-15' wide. It was at one point a dirt path, which has severely eroded away over time, leaving a ton of exposed rocks and large dips which become small ponds when it rains. I'd like to fill in the holes, and cover the whole thing in something in the spring time, but am unsure of what to use.

I will have to plow it, if that changes anything. I was thinking of getting a tri axel of some kind of crushed/processed stone, and renting a bob cat to spread it all out and a walk behind tamper to pack it the best I can. I am concerned about draining, it is relatively flat, but pitches slightly to the road. There is no ditch, and if I did dig one, it would have to be on the property line side, which leaves me with no where for it to run, no drainage gully or anything by the street, and the other side goes straight into the garage, which even if I got around, would have to run another 400' to the back of my property where it can drain. Ideas?


I know the ultimate solution is a correct base and paving, but I am looking for the best solution to last as long as it can until one day when dear aunt martha leaves me an inheritance.

Any and all advice and ideas are welcome.


Some of you may remember this pictures from my phone pole thread, so I'm just reusing it as it's all I have at the moment. They don't show the really bad parts though.

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[kaymccampbell]

Dig it down 8 inches. Lay down some geotextile. Pour and compact crusher run or crushed gravel or item 7 or whatever they call a mix of stone dust up to #2 in your area. All my drives are done in it and it passes muster when we run the plow over it.

 

[boobag]

gravel. have truck spread it for you.

 

[CNGsaves]

^ ^ ^ +1 for gravel. "Cheap" and easily modified if you get phone pole moved.

 

[jonjon1]

I have done MANY MANY MANY gravel roads, and in our area (CT), with our freeze and plowing, it needs to be done right or its just a dirt driveway...

By your pics, I would bring the screener, medium sized X, and skid steer. Dig it out and screen whats there, compact the **** out of some 3 inch minus, then build your sides, landscape fabric, and spread the gravel.. Only other way to do it would be to use gravel grids (not cheap) which I would do for a problem area with a lot of water movement from either gutterless drains or steep slopes....

If you are just looking for a cheap diy way to have a driveway, rake that out and top it with crushed stone. rent a skid steer and laser level and go to town, set the center at zero and each side at 1/2" under. Snow removal is going to be your biggest issue...

The issue with what you have is all of them large bones making holes. Ideally you want to scrape that down 10" or so and start over, nothing over 3" for the top foot of driveway, hence the 3" minus, that will give a nice strong base if compacted well...

I say if you are going to asphalt it someday, just leave it alone and bite the bullet when that day comes. Keep an eye out for paving jobs come spring and maybe bend of foremans ear where they can drop any "extra" material, lol...


ANOTHER options is millings, are you any where near garrity asphalt reclaiming, you can get some asphalt grindings and lay that in there, compact the snot out of it and heat it up, ***** to do it in the winter, I have done it a bunch of times on access roads when building developments, a nice hot day, 3 guys with propane wand torches and a few jumping jacks.. Just wear old shoes, lol...

 

[Marcm157]

I just did my 170 foot dirt drive to my new garage with Crushed Shale / Item 4 - I'm waiting for it to settle and compact a bit and then I will drop a few loads of larger stone on top.

 

[ishiboo]

Load of 3/4 with screenings, check to see how far it gets you. Maybe on more load. Compact, then a full load or two of screenings on top.

 

[kgordon]

See if you can find millings from local road word. Have them dumped, rent a skid steer and spread. Ideally you want to compact too, this material turns rock solid.

 

[ishiboo]

I would avoid the skid steer rental if possible - a good dump trucker driver should be able to spread on a 12-15' path pretty easily. Minor hand work afterwards, then you can do the whole compaction with a plate compactor by hand in little time. If that fails you can always rent one then.

 

[jonjon1]

I would avoid the skid steer rental if possible - a good dump trucker driver should be able to spread on a 12-15' path pretty easily. Minor hand work afterwards, then you can do the whole compaction with a plate compactor by hand in little time. If that fails you can always rent one then.

NO, hand work ... lol, the skid steer is the fun part of the job ...
I use a skid steer to take my garbage out, lol...

OP what town are you in?

 

[joe_padavano]

See if you can find millings from local road word. Have them dumped, rent a skid steer and spread. Ideally you want to compact too, this material turns rock solid.

^^^THIS! Here in Loudoun Co, VA, we have more miles of unpaved public roads than in any other county in VA. VDOT has started using milled asphalt to cover them. Once rolled and exposed to the sun for a few days, it definitely gets solid.

Of course, you do need a good base, and you DO need good drainage so that you don't get the washout problem.

 

[ms fowler]

10 tons of stone plus 10 tons of mud equals 20 tons of mud.
Use a woven textile to separate the mud from the stone. Geo grid might even be better.
Truck drivers who can spread are becoming rare.

 

[nadogail]

I once (1965) drove on a road in, I think, Bayonne NJ, that was made from the strips cut from between the tabs of asphalt roofing shingles. I remember some were red, others green and of course some were dark grey.

It looked as if someone had scattered them in the mud holes to patch the road and many of the patches became interconnected.

You can also look for construction or demolition rubble.

 

[venturesomerite]

NO, hand work ... lol, the skid steer is the fun part of the job ...
I use a skid steer to take my garbage out, lol...

OP what town are you in?

Bethany




Thanks for the suggestions guys. What can you tell me about these geo grid mathingies?

 

[theoldwizard1]

The cheapest thing you can do is dump gravel and have the truck run back and forth across it. It won't be good, but it will be better.

Don't lay more than 4-6" before you compact it down. Deeper holes need to be filled with gravel and compacted first.

You WILL have to re-do this in a couple of years. I some areas, asphalt companies will just pour a really thin asphalt mixture over the top of the compacted gravel. It will harden after a few days and should add a couple of years to the life, unless you are driving heavy equipment over it.

 

[elsonarah]

I will drop a few loads of larger stone on top.

 

[jonjon1]

Bethany




Thanks for the suggestions guys. What can you tell me about these geo grid mathingies?

Thats about 2 hours from me, its too bad, if it was closer I would bring you an operator and skid steer for $40 an hour, but 4-5 hours of driving is going to make it not worth it for you...

The grids are getting more popular I am going to say on the record that SOON, it should be a better option than paving... It certainly looks better, I built a 4000+ sq foot home and I hate pulling up to it with that ugly paved driveway, its just gross...

I have gotten good at it, You start with a good base, compact it to death, landscape fabric, etc its all similar to any other driveway, EXCEPT you lay and lock the grid, then just fill it with your material, I have done it with lawns that are going to be driven over also, it stands up well.. I will admit driving a cat 375lme over the unfilled grid may make it disappear into the sub soil, ask me how I know, lol... In its defense, that machine weighs a couple hundred thousand pounds, so if you dont make a habit of running 85 ton machines over your driveway you should be fine...

Its also not cheap though, BUT on the other hand its more DIY than asphalt. Honestly if you have a good tri-axle operator, so can install it (after your base prepped) with a snow shovel...

I use a wheel skid steer with a 2x12 the same width as the driveway bolted to the bucket, back blade it level to fill the grid, it makes it go really fast, we did a mile of it for a famous musician in mass (I wont name names, and DUDE, you can DREAM ON because you are CRAZY and LIVING ON THE EDGE if you think I am JADED enough to have WHAT IT TAKES to tell you what musician, thats where i DRAW THE LINE, but on THE OTHER SIDE, we can COME TOGETHER FULL CIRCLE...) ...

You can do the entire job with a wacker packer, skid steer (wait till the ground is soft and use the skid steer to scrape the top off your driveway), and some rakes and shovels...


I have used the DOW and stabilgrid I think just go with the cheapest you can find, I was told they are really popular in the UK, my next house will have them..