Rural driveway

[Brisruss]

mrsxtro,
I was a Civil Engineer in a previous career so I hope I can be some help.
You have to control the water flow to do it successfully. A well graded driveway with a crown sloping from the centre is best. Table drains are needed to keep the water off the road. If the land slopes across the road you may need to put some pipes in under the driveway to direct the water away from the high side.
If the driveway is steep you may need to put a barrier of rock or concrete in the drains at regular intervals to stop erosion.
As for the surface, Concrete or Bitumen (either hotmix or sprayed seal over roadbase) will work best. Deco tends to be prone to erosion too easily. Roadbase or crusher dust are good but are also the most expensive. They need to be compacted or they will wash away as well.
Natural clay will always be a problem in wet weather.
Cheers,
Russ

[mrsxtro]

Thank you everyone.
I think I have a pretty good idea of what is needed now.
The driveway runs downhill from the road. This is the part with the most problems. When it rains a fairly substantial river forms and pours down the driveway for about 50 metres then crosses over the drive (forming a rather deep wash track) and runs into the dam.
From all your advice I believe the following will provide the best solution (and within my budget!):
1. Have the driveway graded and crowned properly.
2. Have a drainage ditch built on the high side of the road which will be diverted away from the road. The lower side will just drain into the bush.
3. Lay down some sort of cover. I think at present this will be roadbase (maybe with stabiliser if we have it here) until we can afford bitumen.
4. Regular maintainence.

Anyone wish to comment? Does this sound correct to you all? Anything else I haven't thought of?

Thanks again.
-mrsxtro.

[MurrayD99]

Our drive is about 600m long. Originally it was built up with truckloads of river boulders (3" - 4") with gravel on top. Over time the big boulders worked to the surface - or got hooked by the grader blade. We bought a rough mess of potholes 5 years ago..... Bitumen would be great but the cost would be arm + leg. We got it graded then put about 40m of a mix called AP20 - I believe it is clay plus crushed gravel no bigger than 20mm. This is the standard for country roads in NZ. Seems to be OK - but has to be graded every now and then and I also drag chain harrows over it to get rid of corrugations. I recommend you do not put in the layer of big boulders. If you can, put biggish crush in the bottom - that packs together - and AP20 on top. (I forgot to say - we took away a whole lot of the big boulders, big job fixing the mess)

[Rossluck]

Can I suggest Mrsxtro, that when you get the roadbase laid, you pay the bit extra to hire a compaction roller (the biggest you can get) and roll the hell out of it yourself. I think that if you use roadbase, your chances of having it last a long time are enhanced if you compact it has hard as you can when it's first laid. Whatever, you do, all the best with it.

http://www.coates.com.au/equipment/?page=compaction

[mrsxtro]

Thanks Rossluck.
I have spoken to the fellow at the local quarry today and found out what most people do around here. Roadbase (approx. 19mm stone plus fines), 4 inches thick. Cost about $1850.

The local contractor I spoke to also suggested getting it compacted. He said it was not essential but gave a much better and hopefully longer lasting finish. Will definately get this done.

So all up it should cost me about $3000 for 130 tonne of roadbase, a fellow with some sort of machine to grade and crown the road and a compactor.

Thanks everyone for your advice and experiences.
-mrsxtro