Driveway construction

[YYZedd]

Maybe someone here can offer advice.

My wife and I have 7 acres and are putting in a driveway looking to be about

1000 feet or more long. The lot itself is pie shaped and 1257 feet deep. We have had the trees cleared from the driveway area and now need to bed the road. We have to cross a large low area at the front of the property and two creeks after that. We have the culvets for the creeks already and that part seems easy compared to crossing the first part of the lot. This low area I know needs drainage but my question is more about the driveway part.

Using riprap, how deep should we bed? Approximately how much square footage will you get from a ton of riprap? Will gravel suppliers work with you on the price if you are buying more than just a couple of loads?

Thanks in advance.

[Bob]

The depth depends on how soft your soil is and the maximum weight of any future vehicles. If it's a wet area, the deeper the better. It's a lot easier to dig down now than to keep toping it off every few years. When an excavator rebuilt my driveway, he went down about 4 ft. Weight of stone usually goes by cubic ft. The square foot coverage area of a ton depends on the depth. Independent haulers have to charge more. The closest quarry will usually be the cheapest. Gas and travel time are going to be the same for every load. Ask to talk to the manager and you may be able to work out a deal if you're willing to wait for a time when his trucks are idle. Put pipes under the low area also.

[SQLit]

I worked for the Highway Commission in Iowa for a time. We had a two lane highway crossing an swampy area on the end of a small lake. They did the grading, then added 10 feet of over burden, dirt and left it for a year. We came by once a month and checked the grade stakes that we left near the proposed road level. All in all the setting was about 4 inches. The earth stopped setting after about 10 months. Right on schedule per the engineer. He had told us when he expected it to stop settling.

Any thing you put in the low/swampy area is going to settle into the earth. A soils report might be handy to have, for guessitmating the amount of material.

According to a chart I have from All Star Materials, 3" to 6" natural stone will give you about 40 square feet per ton 2 inches thick. Until you talk to your material folks you do not know what it will cost.

Find some road construction that is going on near by. See if they need a place to dump. That is what we did when they ripped up the highway near our farm.