Large gravel driveway

[Dbikeguy]

Not a job i’m taking on but my client wants some advice and pref a recommendation of a good firm around Derby.

 

large circular drive, a builder quoted 80 tons of stone needed.

Has been gravel already for 17yrs. but is rutted up and she wants it replacing.

 

What’s the correct way to do this? I’ve seen the grids you compact stone into?

 

Resin bound would be ideal but i think would cost an excessive amount.

 

She is elderly but very clever just wants to make sure she isn’t being ripped off by expense or poor workmanship.

 

 

[NJA]

Very important to make sure decent level base and well compacted with a roller (lot of people think it doesn't matter as gravel hides anything).  Also land based shingle locks together better than marine shingle as edges are sharper if that makes sense?  Good to specify that (you may get it anyway in derby but in sussex marine shingle is often the standard).  Resin bound is ideal but as you say, expensive, as you'd prob have to concrete drive first.  dunno, just my thoughts.

[Stere]

Locally here they use granite 3/4 to dust for a proper job of sub base as that what the rock round about in the quarries are.

 

 

Trouble with gravel it gets mixed with soil eventually so tonnes of gravel soil mix to remove and then replace with new. material....

 

 

Probably enough material is there already but not efficient  to sieve it all ans re-use...

 

 

[youngsbury]

Depends on what’s already being used as the sub base which would need checking as probably just as well to keep it ! Scrape existing gravel off and level sub base compact with roller could then blind over with scalpings ( road plannings ) and compact ! All gravel migrates to a certain degree but could be rolled into the scalpings to help grip gravel and hide sub base. 

[donnk]

thats 4 wagon loads. how long is the road ? A wagon load really doesnt go that far at 100mm deep.

[headgroundsman]

Breedon quarry is near to derby and their stone compacts to a firm finish. If it gets rutted it is not a massive job to grade with a digger and run a wacker over to compact again. 50mm over sub base should do the job fine or as others have said road plannings if you can get them 

[Dbikeguy]

thats 4 wagon loads. how long is the road ? A wagon load really doesnt go that far at 100mm deep.

I’d guesstimate at 125-150m maybe more. car and a half wide at its narrowest.

[Matthew Storrs]

8 hours ago, Dbikeguy said:

 

I’d guesstimate at 125-150m maybe more. car and a half wide at its narrowest.

 

By my calculations that would need roughly 60ton of gravel if Renewing. But the sub base is everything so maybe there has been an allowance to repair the pot holed subase? 
Don’t really want gravel deeper then 50mm either. I did a job back at Christmas, compacted 4”scalpings laid on Terram and then dressed with 40mm of gravel and compacted again which slightly beds the gravel into the sub base and 6 months on it’s still all in place whereas I think deeper gravel just gets pushed around.

[Husqvarna King]

The sub base is the drive way, the gravel just makes it look nice, gravel as shallow as possible really and compacted in. Definitely no more than 2inch. 1 ton of gravel will do approx 15-20sqM at 2"thick

[aspenarb]

If the drive thats there is of sound make up I would scarify and roll what's there., then top off/roll with the bare minimum of dressing. Nothing worse than driving through a sea of stone and it never stays where its put. We use a guy that has what looks like a mini mulcher on a small sit on machine that planes off existing dressings, makes very easy work of relaying existing build ups. I will dig out a pic of his machine.

 

Bob