Putting in an 800' driveway through the forest, advice and tips needed.

[Radar67]

I ran my electrical underground, was one of the best choices I made. The overhead would have been $12000.00, I got underground for $3500.00. My driveway will be 900-1100 feet long and I have read the same information about building the road bed up and using the bigger gravel to start. I have a 10-15 degree slope to deal with on mine. It is a red clay hill and gets extremely slick in wet weather.

[Piston]

I ran my electrical underground, was one of the best choices I made. The overhead would have been $12000.00, I got underground for $3500.00. My driveway will be 900-1100 feet long and I have read the same information about building the road bed up and using the bigger gravel to start. I have a 10-15 degree slope to deal with on mine. It is a red clay hill and gets extremely slick in wet weather.

WOW!  That is encouraging news!  I hope NH is similar in it being cheaper to run underground.  ;)  I figure I can at least save money on the excavation because I can dig the trench myself. 
I believe the steepest slope I will have is right around 7%-8% so shouldn't be too bad, that is only the beginning 80' or so, the rest will actually be pretty darn level.  I'm glad you said you've been reading the same info for building the road bed like that, sounds like I'm getting some great advice.
Do you mind sharing some more details on how your building up your road?  Are you using fabric?  If so, what kind?  I haven't looked at all the options yet as it's still a ways away, but I figure it doesn't hurt to start learning early. 

[beenthere]

Piston
If you can find out what is under the surface for your road, it will help to know if fabric is needed.

My 600' drive came in on the terminal morraine of the last glacier, so it was solid with glacial till dumped thousands of years ago. No dirt, no clay, just gravel. So no fabric needed.

Should be some soil surveys that you can get your hands on, or just chat with some locals -either neighbors or road contractors/truckers, or quarry operators.

[BaldBob]

You've received some excellent advice so far - especially that from OntarioAl.  One thing I would add, one of the first things you need to decide is how wide your running surface needs to be to accommodate the vehicles that will use the road and to plow snow ( add a foot or more to that width in curves for every 10 deg. of curve). Make sure to clear your initial subgrade wide enough to accommodate that width of running surface plus an allowance for a 3:1 slope on either side for the fill material from the ditches and the depth of rock. i.e., if you pile soil 8" deep and put on 8" of rock(after compaction) on that, the initial subgrade needs to be 8' wider than the planned running surface (16" x 3 = 48" on each side). You could get by with a 2:1 or even 1 1/2:1 slope, but the road will be  much easier to maintain, will hold up better and be considerably safer with a 3:1 slope on all the fill material.

The lead-off ditches that OntarioAl mentions should be spaced so that there is at least one for every 5' change in elevation, to avoid down cutting of the ditches. For a 4% grade that would be one every 125'. BTW the road will hold up better if you roll the grade slightly every few hundred feet rather than maintaining a constant grade for the whole distance. Some would say that the requirements I've stated are overkill, but my experience designing, supervising the building of, and then being responsible for the maintenance of hundreds of miles of logging and access roads on the large industrial timberland holding that I managed showed me that by following them you will save lots of money and headaches in the long run.

Also, in your part of the world, you should make clearings to the side every so often where a plow can push the snow away from the road.

[thecfarm]

I have a 500 foot driveway. Plowed it one winter,got a snow blower,behind my tractor,the next and never looked back. In IMO a snow blower is so much better. Even if the snow is wet,it will still throw the snow.No need to plan or think about more snow coming. Just clear what you need. Use the fabric. My Father and me put the gravel to the woods road,We did not know about fabric. The trucks punched it right down into the ground. They put it down in my drive way 11 years ago and I am still above the ground.

[isawlogs]

Snow dumps are always a good thing , ya never know when the blower will need fixin', usualy happens when the two foot storm comes in  : :D

[Raider Bill]

Bill,
You made me feel like it's just down the road!   ;D  Now I can't complain at all! 

Did you use fabric for your drive?  I've read some interesting articles about how the fabric helps keep the driveway material from 'sinking' down into the subsoil beneath it.  I'm gonna give it a try for the cost. 

No I didn't use the fabric. Didn't know about it  and actually I probably wouldn't have only for the reason I was building out of pocket and was counting pennies. Hind sight again.........

This is when I first got the drive in and graveled.  The truck is at the half way point.







Now mostly the gravels gone and all's left is red clay

[isawlogs]

Bill , you really where having a good time on that dozer  :D :D

[Raider Bill]

Heck after the first one I rented I was surprised they let me have another one!
I missed my calling, turns out I like smashing things down with massive horsepower. 8) 8)

[submarinesailor]

Heck after the first one I rented I was surprised they let me have another one!
I missed my calling, turns out I like smashing things down with massive horsepower. 8) 8)

Who does like it. :D :D :D :D :D

Bruce

[BaldBob]

Unless your subgrade is quite stable or impervious. much of the cost (or all, if rock costs are very high) of fabric will be offset in the short run by needing less rock.  In the long run, fabric will pay for itself many times over.

[Holmes]

  I would recommend you do not bury the stumps. It is not legal to do in many states. Recently a stump dump polluted the well on the property it is on. The pine resins made the well water taste like oil.  Holmes

[Piston]

...Should be some soil surveys that you can get your hands on, or just chat with some locals -either neighbors or road contractors/truckers, or quarry operators.

I have the Merrimack and Belknap Counties Soil Survey from 2005.  Does 143D mean anything to anyone?  That's the number in the zone that my land is in, but I have no idea what it means. 

[Piston]

ou've received some excellent advice so far - especially that from OntarioAl.  One thing I would add, one of the first things you need to decide is how wide your running surface needs to be to accommodate the vehicles that will use the road and to plow snow ( add a foot or more to that width in curves for every 10 deg. of curve).

I looked in the copy of the driveway regs I have and it lists any driveway over 500' must be 14' wide.  It also says the max width of any driveway can't exceed 16', soooooo, I guess that pretty much means my driveway will be between 14'-16' wide. :D

[Piston]

Great pics Bill, Looks like one heck of a spot you got there!  ;D

  I would recommend you do not bury the stumps. It is not legal to do in many states. Recently a stump dump polluted the well on the property it is on. The pine resins made the well water taste like oil.  Holmes

I hate stumps, it seems like there isn't anything good you can do with them! 

[Holmes]

I hate stumps, it seems like there isn't anything good you can do with them!  
 
You could use them to make a great looking fence for the dogs ... :D ;D

[isawlogs]

Farm next to my dads was opened up in the early 1800's . The trees where fell and the stumps pulled with a tripod and ox or horse, stumps where ligned up at the edge of the bush and left there as a fence, well that fence is still there. I wish it was on our place, man does it look good.

[Piston]

Hmm, a stump fence?  Might have to think about that.  ;D

[thecfarm]

Driven regulations? We provably have them now. No such thing when I put the driveway in. Now the Building Inspector wants to know about every little thing we do. I should of told her about the cover up we are using for a veggie stand.  : Did not know until I went to the town office to register the car and saw the notice on the door. Give someone a title and the power goes to thier head.

[Piston]

I hear ya Cfarm.  I'm hoping they won't be too crazy with enforcing some of the code regs.  The good thing is I've spent a lot of time talking to the building inspector and he seems like a really straightforward guy, he even told me that as long as what I'm doing makes sense, and isn't dangerous, he won't have a problem with it.  I want to get the house built while he is still the inspector! 
The road agent seems pretty easy going as well.  My dad has worked with him in the past on some roads and he wasn't hard to work with.  Hopefully they aren't having a bad day when I submit my plans! 

[Don_Papenburg]

The 143D is a soil type number used by USDA .  There should be a key somewhere that tells you the soil name , if it is a loam ,clay , sand  or gravel . The letter gives the soil class, A would be the better more productive soils .

[Radar67]

I have not made my final decision on my road yet. I would eventually like for it to be cobble stone. I lived in Germany for three years and really liked those roads. My road bed is fairly stable and packed pretty good. It is a clay base and gets rather slick when wet. I want to use the fabric, but am having a hard time locating it locally. It is on the high side price wise, but if it will save having to replace gravel down the road, it can pay for it's self. I will initially have to haul in some red sand/clay gravel to keep the road from being too slick when wet.

I will be doing some box blade work in the next few weeks, getting the crown and wash outs like they should be. There was some damage from the well drilling and the electrical (rutting), so now that the heavy trucks are done for a while I can repair it and start getting the clay gravel in.

[Raider Bill]

One of the several mistakes I made putting mine in was drainage in a few areas. Because I'm on a hill the water needs to cross somewhere. This is a constant battle in a couple places.

[isawlogs]

Bill , ya need a solution to that issue ?  ;D    Paint a culvert  ;D

[Raider Bill]

I put 1 in already, I'm learning. Need some kind of catch basin in front of the pipe to catch my red clay and driveway stone from washing away.