Road renovation

[hebinwi]

I have a 1/4 mile driveway that is becoming badly rutted. I'm in Tennessee and the property is very hilly. The drive runs straight down hill from the county road mostly over bedrock that had gravel added 10-15 years ago. I'm getting ruts along the lower edge close to a ditch of this section. At the bottom it's fairly flat, but almost impassibly muddy during long wet periods. The third section runs up hill and curved following the contour of the hill to the house. This section has some ruts that are a foot deep in rock/soil with no observed bedrock like I see by the county road. There is really no road crown at this point. I'd love to have it paved/blacktopped, but I'm retired and have to keep costs down. What is the best approach? Just more gravel? Re-grade....How? Or, just forget it and make sure the 4WDs keep running (makes it hard on visitors and deliveries). Any suggestions or internet links would be appreciated.

[Randy]

On the cheap, fill deep ruts with 2A modified stone. At the bottom put down stone to fight the mud. Best bet would be dig it out a foot deep put down a 10" deep layer of 2" - 3" rock with modified over the top. Does water run across there? maybe you need a drain pipe under the driveway there?

that 2A modifed packs well.

You can always do like PENN-Dot does here and do the "oil and chips" thing, layers of tar and gravel, or just pour tar over your gravel, roof and foundation coating will work. Will take a week to a few weeks to set up depending on the weather, but it will hold the gravel from washing out as fast. If you would pour the roof and foundation stuff over your stone, it will soak in through the stone without being thinned. Throw on a top layer of gravel to keep it off your feet and tires until it sets up.

PENN-dot considers "oil and chips" to be road resurfacing. I think it should be outlawed on public roads. On a driveway where speeds are 5

-10 MPH, that's a different story.

Thank You, Randy

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[jloomis]

[Tom C]

Road grindings, "if" you can get them. Word of caution, if you get a few truck loads, once they sit, you would think you're digging into a pile of concrete.

Your biggest problem will be trying to convince a contractor to dump them on your property. They're not real anxious to take on the liability.