How to build a road

[wemfan]

I have 10 acres i am about to build a house on but i need to put a road in first since the house sits about 600' off of the county road that runs in front of the property. While building the house pad I cut the top soil off of the proposed road and installed a shale base that is maybe 10' thick. My current plan is to install fabric over the shale then spread some crusher run about 16' wide and 4"-6" deep. When the project is finished I will probably asphalt the road to the house.

Suggestions or tips? Things I may be overlooking? I have never built a road before so I am in the info gathering phase. I appreciate the help from you guys that have built roads like this before. Thanks.

[bobcatuser]

The first thing I would look at is how well the area drains during heavy rains, If there are low spots that collect water you will need a ditch or swale to keep the water from eroding the roadway. Drainage will be important especially if you plan on paving in the future.

If the shale surface is firm there is no need to use geo-textile fabric, check for soft areas before spreading the road base. Any soft areas should be dug out and backfilled with coarse 3-6” fill on top of geo-textile fabric. The fabric will prevent the soil/clay from pushing up when driven on and helps to bridge over soft areas.

When you put the gravel down make sure you have a crown or cross-slope, usually 2% to shed water. I would use crushed ¾” minus angular gravel, not bank run or round rock.

[Gravel Rat]

I don't know how soft your ground is you may not need any shale or rock.

Hard to say without any pictures.

You do have to make sure you stripped off any of the brown dirt. Anything that will make mud you want to get rid off.

Install any utility lines you want, say you want a light at the end of your driveway etc.

As bobcatuser says make sure it has a pitch or a crown. It will be easier to give a pitch right or left then when it comes to paving time the paver will do what ever they need to do.

Plan on letting the driveway settle for atleast a year it is going to sink with heavy trucks running on it. When it settles put more gravel on it. After a year it isn't going to move much.

[ProTouch Groundscapes]

ya, get yourself one of these, it will save you so much time.

http://www.lawnsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164224&stc=1&d=1255387021







sorry guys, i just couldnt resist...

[93turbo]

wow why build a road when just a driveway will do LOL sorry just jokin with ya. I wouldn't get to carried away with your drive till after the house is built just put in some heavy base and let it be the heavy trucks bringing in material is gonna tear it all up anyhow

[wemfan]

Thanks for the replies. There is a lot of clay soil so I think I may go ahead and put the fabric down. After all construction is completed I will probably asphalt the road. I would like an edge of some sort to make it look finished. Any ideas? Again, thanks for the info.

[Steiner]

Here is all you ever wanted to know and more.....

[mudmaker]

If you want an edge I would find someone with a curb machine and put a ribbon down each side. It wont be cheap, but the finished result looks great.

[ioilyouin]

Definitely let it settle at least one winter after you are complete. As was stated earlier, pay close attention to the watershed. If you can't get the water away from your roadbed, you'll never be satisfied.

[wemfan]

It will take me about 9 months to build the house and the very last thing I plan to do is to blacktop the road so it will get a winter of just driving over the gravel and settling in. I am not planning on compacting the gravel but am just going to see what condition the road is in after a bunch of construction traffic goes over it. Make sense? I believe I have solved the drainage issues but I will pay close attention to drainage. I know what a problem that can be. The curb idea is a good one. I just don't know if it will be cost prohibitive. I want to do some kind of finished look.

Steiner, good info. That attachment was helpful.

I have never put in a road before and this one is 640' long. I may be driving on gravel a good while after finishing the house. I will probably be out of money.

Thanks, for all of the information. Every post was helpful.

[YellowDogSVC]

I would suggest compaction before traffic to help seal the road. While it won't be perfect, compacted crushed base can help keep water from soaking in too much.

[tbi]

Shale around here usually turns to mush after a few years due to the softness of the rock and the freeze thaw cycles. If it was mine I would have put the paper down then bank run gravel then some sort of processed product.

[Gravel Rat]

If you have clay soil it doesn't matter what you do on top if its wet. Is it just a layer of clay or does it run pretty deep ?

I would probably use some peastone or some birdseye and put a layer of that over the clay after you scraped the brown dirt and grass etc off.

Load the pea stone up heavy and pack it in pushing it into the clay that will provide some drainage and harden up the clay.

[wemfan]

The clay runs pretty deep.

[Gravel Rat]

If that is the case you will need to provide good drainage to keep the water away from the clay.

Depending on how firm the ground is the top layer you build will have to float ontop of the clay.

You may have to dig a drainage ditch on both sides of the driveway and make the ditch nice and wide. Water always takes the easiest path so if it can bleed out of the ground and into a ditch it will keep the clay turn into a jello cube.

The biggest thing is you don't want to pave the driveway and it starts to settle and move around.

You might want to leave 90% of the driveway as graveled and just do the area around the house where you park your vehicals etc.