I need to completely relandscape my front garden, and need some guidelines for the dimensions for a driveway. I guess the kind of questions I have are:
- How wide should it be?
- What's the minimum recommended circumference for a turning circle?
I'm hoping somebody might be able to recommend a suitable book that has this kind of technical information in it, or reports of any experiences would be welcome.
TIA
I once had to drive a U-Haul truck down a driveway that was too narrow. There was curbs on both sides and one set of the truck duals had to ride on top of the curb. So you need to allow for the use of the driveway by moving trucks, UPS trucks and so on. In my area the Fire Department has to approve the driveway for any new building.
Why not take some chalk into an empty parking lot and mark out a driveway and try it out?
I would error on the big side.
minimum is typically 9'. This is *very narrow*. A more typical 2-car driveway is 18'. A large-ish car is 7' wide (think Ford Extinct or similar behemoth).
For comparison, a typical normal two lane road is 12' per lane; a highway with a median is usually 14' for the right lane and 12' for the left lane, plus shoulders.
Turning radius is 12' inside, absolute minimum. A Ford Extinct-type turning radius can be as much as 40', outside.
Get thee to a library, and borrow a copy of "Architectural Graphic Standards", and read up on all the driveway dimensions. (Buying a copy might set you back more than the driveway....)
--Yan
Thanks Pat, very good idea about trying it out in some empty parking lot! I'll check the references. This is exactly the kind of information I was after. Regards, Jon
Thanks Yann. I'll get myself to the library and see if I can't get a copy of the Architectural Graphic Standards book you recommended. The comparison with a standard highway is also a very good viewpoint; one that I had not considered. Regards, Jon
My drive way has a curve in it. This affords landscaping options. Also some obscure Chinese may say evil spirits can only travel in straight lines. :)) Last I heard there are no straight lines in nature.
Bill
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