Drive Way Covering

[Parm]

im the last one at the end of a drive way that then eventually turns into a bridal way. It's shared by four other houses.

It's basically mud and compacted gravel that's mostly gone

Over the hols all neighbors have agreed that it needs to be made good and consensus is that it should be covered with 20mm shingle stone in keeping with others in the area.

I've got a good deal with a local supplier at £23 / ton delivered and he will reverse his waggon to the end and drive forward while tipping thus saving loads of work.

Now how much will I need and what is the recommended/optimum depth required? The area to be covered is 60 metres long and 3.5 meters wide

 

[Pete.]

I'd go for crushed concrete. It's probably cheaper, much nicer to walk and drive on and it won't migrate like the shingle especially if you roll it. Not as pretty though.

Anyway, I guess a ton is about a cubic metre so at 140mm inches thick you'll get 7 square metres a cube that's 2m of your 60m run. You need 30 cube at 140mm thick so if it works out a ton per cube (my guess) that's £690 for the lot.

I would give serious consideration to hiring a small excavator with a wide bucket and a 2 ton vibrating roller for a few days. It'll add hundreds to the bill but you'll end up with a hell of a lot nicer job. If you leave the vehicles to do the rolling-in all you're going to get is two long ruts and a hump in the middle.

 

[gaz1]

if you have rd works near you get the scallpings from them all it is is chipped up old tarmac gives a good base

 

[super noob]

Leave some scrap metal outside your house for a passing traveler camp and they'll tarmac it for you

 

[Parm]

Crushed concrete isn't an option cause the Parish Council are very finikety round here, it's 20mm stone or nothing!

And thevsame chap that's gonna supply the material also runs quite a big construction company from the village so I have access to all his machinery with trained drivers too. He's quite good with stuff like this and will allow his lads to do jobs in the village with his machinery in the evenings and weekends

So Pete, you reckon I need it 140 mm thick, isn't that a bit too deep ?

 

[cumbriasteve]

I would probably do it in a couple of stages, get enough to give a depth of about 60mm laid down and run the vehicles over it for a few weeks to bed it down and see where it goes, you will probably have to back rake it into the ruts until it stops sinking at those points.

That's because I don't have access to any heavy plant to do the job for me.

After that time judge if it needs anymore and if so you know what your first load covered so will be able to estimate the rest with a fair bit of accuracy.

 

[sandy2210]

gravel is nearer to 2 tons per cube and 140mm is way to deep for loose gravel to drive on with a good base below 50mm is enough

 

[I'm getting on a bit]

Part I would suggest you talk to the guy who will be supplying the materials and equipment.

But I would excavate to a min depth of 400mm, backfill with crushed concrete, well compacted then a covering of the decorative stone

 

[Ton-up]

gravel is nearer to 2 tons per cube and 140mm is way to deep for loose gravel to drive on with a good base below 50mm is enough

Absolutely this. If you roller it in you may need more, but loose gravel wiil move to the sides. As Steve said above, do it in a few stages otherwise. You would not drive through 140mm, let alone walk on it! If the base is not solid, put crush or scalpings down first, roller in and then a small layer of 20mm on top.

 

[Pete.]

gravel is nearer to 2 tons per cube and 140mm is way to deep for loose gravel to drive on with a good base below 50mm is enough

Is it really? I was basing it on what broken concrete weighs which is about a ton a cube. I agree 140 is too deep for loose gravel but rolled in you could drive and walk on it no problem. Since he's got mud there's going to have to be some consolidation before 2" of gravel goes down or the work is going to be wasted. As above, fine crush vibrated in then stone on top would be best of both worlds.

You don't need to do it in stages for less than 300mm because that's the usual layer thickness for vibrating roller.

 

[Kent]

loose 20 mm? it will be gone rapid, if it gets much water could be days. You say mostly mud? well it will sink in never to be seen again without a good base. Tyres will remove it and a flow of water will move it lord knows were.

Put a good base of large stone pounded in then MOT over it first at least.

my track is crippling me in terms of time and money, I recon over the next ten years I will spend so much time and money repairing it I might as well tarmac it just haven't got that sort of cash available presently.

have you seen the stone resin surfaces? they are very popular now and I am sure the parish would approve

 

[DecK]

You could put down a Terram layer first. What it costs extra you would save a lot more on stone and any costs from excavating and backfilling with hardcore. The shingle will still move to the sides and some other method of keeping it in place will have to work there but at least it will not end up being forced down through the existing ground like the stone that was there previously.

 

[pedrobedro]

im the last one at the end of a drive way that then eventually turns into a bridal way. It's shared by four other houses.

Is there a church at the end or the registrar or is it a bridle way for horsey types ? If you can get some road planings you can make a good surface by sprinkling some diesel on with a watering can and rolling out with a vibratory roller or a whacker plate. A farm we camped at a couple of years ago was doing the yard and it left a good surface for traffic.

 

[brightspark]

whatever u use it wants rolling down 1st and when the grounds bone dry otherwise don't bother. it wants doing in 2-layers- not 2 thick otherwise it just goes all over the place when vehicles -turn on it. my drives -20mm gravel compacted and its virtualy waterproof and been down years

 

[slim_boy_fat]

^^ pedro beat me to it, is the path used by horsey types a lot?

 

[Pete.]

Get caught pouring diesel onto the ground by the wrong person and a muddy drive will be the least of your worries.

 

[Shox Dr]

As others have said, you need to be looking at the sub-base first.

I would also suggest you use a sub base that will allow the surface water to drain, crushed concrete would be excellent for this as it will keep the voids open. But make sure the size you get doesn't have a high dust content or it will fill those voids in. The coase sub base will also help stop the topping layer from moving about

 

[fixerupper]

What he just said .....or Quarry bottom or what used to be called hogging rolled with a camber if poss ,then a thin layer of shingle to make it look pretty if you need it ....jeff...

 

[Parm]

Ok just to clarify when I say mud it's actually well compacted sub base that now covered in leaves mud etc. previous owner of the house many moons ago layed down crushed concrete that is now very solid. It's quite flat most of the way with a good verge on both sides.

My lane eventually turns into the Grafton Way bridle way and is used by dog walkers daily and occassionally horsey types too. On the very odd occassion we get the idiot on a quad bike too!

Plan is to get 16 tons dropped as that's what the waggon can carry and it's gonna cost me £368 delivered and a fw beers for matey to drive over with his mini roller.

Will aim for about 50mm and use any spare to do another area to from of the hiuse

 

[octo0072000]

remember if it's limestone you are putting down frost will bring it up and make it like soggy pudding