Have bid on long, steep driveway. Looking at shot and chip. Strongly leaning toward caramel-colored stone aggregate as top layers. (Bid includes 2 inch base and two layers of aggregate over top). Any idea if it all will roll to the bottom of the hill? Other suggestions? Thanks a million.
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Ever get an answer to your question from anywhere?
I have a little experience with steep driveways. Ours is 1/2 mile, rising 400'. Used to be extremely steep at 30%, which doesn't work for much of any surface.
To answer your question, gotta ask another question. How steep?
My neighbor has a driveway, without my slope, constructed similar to your plan. Works great to her house but it'd be a nightmare on the way up here.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Ive done alot of gravel driveways here in WV and it takes expierence to know what stone to put where.On my 1/2 mi. drive on the real steep part I use #57's and on the flats 3/4 crusher run. The hard rain wont wash the 57's down the driveway but are small enuf to compact and not act like ur driving on ballbearings.Gravel driveways can be tempermental and depending on thier base and freeze and thawing theres time that id rather walk than tear the h'll out of it and then pay the gravel man.Takes 75 tons to sugar coat mine and thats with laying a 6x6 block in the tailgate of the tandam so that we dont do the center(grass strip).When in doubt put $ in culvert/thankumams and ditches.
Drainage is the one thing my professional road builder got right and I learned from. Beyond that, he didn't have a clue. Took me years of experimenting to understand slopes and stone. And rerouting the driveway to lose that 30% grade.
What's steep to you?
I don't use washed stone, if your #57 is the same as here, on much of any slope. The dust is clearly better to hold the stone. Here, it's called #25. Same size stone, but with dust. I'm paying $7.80/ton. I also don't do driveways over 15% slope. Apparently neither do you, if your #57's don't wash. On 30%, they're history. That I know from experience. Even #3's will wash.
Our quarry recommends crusher run for all driveways, but I've found the larger stone in #25 beneficial.
My road builder left me with #3 base, crusher run top, on 30% slopes. It was a catastrophe. No #3's at all here now. Also no crusher run except where Dept. of Transportation required at entrance.
You're right, takes a lot of experience to determine what works best. And stone differs between quarries. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!