paving advice needed - WA

[desbromilow]

hi,

nearly every paving guide talks about putting compacted roadbase under the pavers as a sub base, then about 30mm of sand as bedding... but some don't specify the gravel/ roadbase layer - they simply opt for compacted subsoil, and then a bedding layer.
So here I am digging out the crappy grey sand which passes for soil in my part of WA and I've come across the compacted yellow brickies sand I paid to have put in as part of the pad prep. This is 300mm thick, and compacted with one of those BIG industrial compactors (weighs about 1T) - the sand would pass for weak limestone, or weak concrete.
it seems silly to dig this out and replace it with roadbase and then recompact it... especially since my compactor is only one of those smaller domestic types which weigh around 50-60 kg.

does anyone know what i should be doing here...
where the compacted yellow sand has not been done (the last meter of the proposed paving) I've dug down 300mm and will either fill with roadbase, or compact brickies sand in 50mm lifts up to the level of the bedding sand.
The bedding sand will be the proper 30mm thick screeded layer as per every guide i've read.

Thanks,
Des

[rambunctious]

hi,

nearly every paving guide talks about putting compacted roadbase under the pavers as a sub base, then about 30mm of sand as bedding... but some don't specify the gravel/ roadbase layer - they simply opt for compacted subsoil, and then a bedding layer.
So here I am digging out the crappy grey sand which passes for soil in my part of WA and I've come across the compacted yellow brickies sand I paid to have put in as part of the pad prep. This is 300mm thick, and compacted with one of those BIG industrial compactors (weighs about 1T) - the sand would pass for weak limestone, or weak concrete.
it seems silly to dig this out and replace it with roadbase and then recompact it... especially since my compactor is only one of those smaller domestic types which weigh around 50-60 kg.

does anyone know what i should be doing here...
where the compacted yellow sand has not been done (the last meter of the proposed paving) I've dug down 300mm and will either fill with roadbase, or compact brickies sand in 50mm lifts up to the level of the bedding sand.
The bedding sand will be the proper 30mm thick screeded layer as per every guide i've read.

Thanks,
Des

The stronger the base the better, and what you propose is more than enough IMO

[desbromilow]

The stronger the base the better, and what you propose is more than enough IMO

So I asked the question back in 2018, and did the job some time later. it's now a few years, and I can report that the paving has stood up quite well, and the heaviest thing on it has been the front wheels of a franna crane carrying my mill in pick and carry configuration.

I left the sand pad intact but did recompact the disturbed surface of it with the small plate compactor, then came up over that with cracker dust/roadbase mix, then did the 30mm of bedding sand compacted again. Each bit of compacting was done in 50mm flitches (compacted down to around 25mm) so it took a while, but it appears to be holding up well.
The local ants keep burrowing in making their little mounds on the pavers - the mounds are always bedding sand, nothing more (citronella encourages them to find new nests in the yard)

The edge of the pavers were locked in place with concrete as a 150x150 recessed edge sitting under the edge of the last paver row - 75mm under the paver, 75 not under, with a 20mm "step" (see sketch) with a small wire reinforcing cast in (offcuts of 50x50x3 weldmesh)

Despaver_edge.png

[ForeverYoung]

nvm.
for some reason I didn't see the latest post, and didn't read the date on the 1st two.

[rambunctious]

LOL I am usually onto dates before I reply but must have been sleeping with this one.