The dirtwork thread

[mike_belben]

nice work.  ive explored many a class 6 road in a past life.  nice solitude.

[woodroe]

I was surprised at how well the crushed gravel compacts. Costs a little more, $16 yd delivered 12 yd loads.
Used the 1 1/2 " stuff to build up the driveway base and topped it with the 
3/4" . It solidifies after packing it.

On my woods road I used the same stuff when I put a culvert in. Had some leftover from the driveway.
Bed of rocks, 3/4" crushed gravel bed for the culvert , encased it with the 3/4 and 
topped it off with the 1 1/2". 

If i had my own digger probably would have done things differently in the woods
but pretty happy with the results .

[thecfarm]

Get the water off and out of the road is the key. Built them high!!
Hog tough is the words my Father used to call your road PognyHill before you fixed it.
Your road looks good.

[PoginyHill]

I was surprised at how well the crushed gravel compacts. Costs a little more, $16 yd delivered 12 yd loads.
Used the 1 1/2 " stuff to build up the driveway base and topped it with the
3/4" . It solidifies after packing it.

On my woods road I used the same stuff when I put a culvert in. Had some leftover from the driveway.
Bed of rocks, 3/4" crushed gravel bed for the culvert , encased it with the 3/4 and
topped it off with the 1 1/2".

If i had my own digger probably would have done things differently in the woods
but pretty happy with the results .

Crushed gravel (ABC, road-bond - depending on where you are) is the best. Spreads like butter and packs nicely. Only issue is price. The screened gravel I use for woods roads is less than half the cost of crusher run. I use crushed gravel when I want a super-smooth surface or need it to compact really well.

[mike_belben]

Nomenclature is so regional.

[Iwawoodwork]

I have recycled old/used carpet to put down on soft areas that I covered with gravel, worked as well as road fabric, it takes planning ahead to get enough carpet ahead but the local carpet stores allow me to remove it from their dump boxes plus I have friends who know that I will take old carpet regardless of how bad it is. Sure takes a lot less base rock to put it down in the soft spots and then spread the rock. 

[mike_belben]

used to use carpet to preserve the integrity of fresh bmx jumps. 

[Patrick NC]

I was surprised at how well the crushed gravel compacts. Costs a little more, $16 yd delivered 12 yd loads.
Used the 1 1/2 " stuff to build up the driveway base and topped it with the
3/4" . It solidifies after packing it.

On my woods road I used the same stuff when I put a culvert in. Had some leftover from the driveway.
Bed of rocks, 3/4" crushed gravel bed for the culvert , encased it with the 3/4 and
topped it off with the 1 1/2".

If i had my own digger probably would have done things differently in the woods
but pretty happy with the results .

Crushed gravel (ABC, road-bond - depending on where you are) is the best. Spreads like butter and packs nicely. Only issue is price. The screened gravel I use for woods roads is less than half the cost of crusher run. I use crushed gravel when I want a super-smooth surface or need it to compact really well.

If you flood the ABC stone with water and roll it with a vibratory smooth drum roller it will work up a slurry on top sort of like you get when you finish concrete. The fines and rock dust will fill in any voids and will cure out hard as a rock. 

[mike_belben]

I often mix clay and water to pancake batter mix and pour it into potholes or little backfills.  Screed it up like concrete so the cream comes up and gets dried out faster by sun and wind.   Dries very hard in a few sunny days as long as ya dont go too thick.  

Ive also "mortared" a field stone barbecue together with mudcrete the same way. 

[HemlockKing]

I often mix clay and water to pancake batter mix and pour it into potholes or little backfills.  Screed it up like concrete so the cream comes up and gets dried out faster by sun and wind.   Dries very hard in a few sunny days as long as ya dont go too thick.  

Ive also "mortared" a field stone barbecue together with mudcrete the same way.

My only problems with using clay is after a few days of dry weather it's a dust storm every time you drive down the road lol

[Tacotodd]

Mike, you are one of the most CRAFTY people that I've ever had the pleasure of reading and interacting with! 

I promise you one thing, what I said in my previous sentence is an EXTREMELY good complement!  8) smiley_clapping smiley_blue_bounce

[HemlockKing]

Mike, you are one of the most CRAFTY people that I've ever had the pleasure of reading and interacting with!

I promise you one thing, what I said in my previous sentence is an EXTREMELY good complement!  8) smiley_clapping smiley_blue_bounce

When you REALLY don't wanna spend a dollar that inspires creativity lol 

[Tacotodd]

Yes!

Necessity is the mother of invention.

[mike_belben]

thanks todd.  i endeavored to be wealthy when i was young but the Lord had better plans.



(quote keeps messing up, to HK)

yeah we do get that (dust bowl) in a drought, especially with the mower.   generally i try to have stone for cap.  you cant fix a pothole with more stone.  you need to displace the water first and clay is a supreme material for shedding water.  but you cant be letting it sit flat on clay or itll slake and consume your rock.

[mike_belben]

here is a clay slurry example.  for me its just a basic retaining wall so i can pitch the water against its drainage and not have it eroding across my lawn. but if one wanted to say remove the blocks after it dries and then pour a swimming pool or coi pond form, something like that.  the clay will hold its shape perfectly once set up.  you could use any form shape you want just like concrete.  can trowel and smooth and shape it after then spray-crete it or put a liner or whatever you can dream up.  the water removes all the air space so it becomes much less penetrable by future water and incredibly compact.  loose clay fill will flow apart in the first downpour but not slurry mix once dry.  it will shrink and crack a lot when drying.  you can only do a few inches thick per lift.  below 6" it may never dry. 

[Patrick NC]

Working on an asphalt repair project at a Wal-Mart distribution center. The parking lot has only been there for about 12 years and is designed for a 20 year cycle. The reason it failed so early is the original grading contractor didn't cut the subgrade deep enough. There was supposed to be 8" of abc stone under the asphalt and he only had 4"  in places. That caused the asphalt to fail and water to seep in and cause more problems. I am removing the asphalt in 50,000 square foot sections, removing the stone, grading the dirt to proper depth, and replacing on top of geogrid. 

 

 

 

 

[PoginyHill]

Does ABC come in different sizes? Or does it refer to a single size, such as 3/4" and under? What is the size of the material you are using for the asphalt base?

[Patrick NC]

Abc stone is basically crusher run that will pass through a 1.5 " screen. To meet NC DOT specs it must weigh at least 130lbs  per cubic foot and have 25-35% fine material. 
Our asphalt base is 1.5" , intermediate is 1" and surface is 1/2". On this particular job we are adding fiberglass to the asphalt mix for added strength. 

[mike_belben]

Thats a heck of a job.  Theres nothing harder on tar than a distribution center.  Nothing but jackknifing tractors at 60k + 24/7/365.  Tire scrub is real hard on ground.

[Patrick NC]

We've got 3 more of these jobs at different distribution centers across the state. They are really good jobs because the upper management at Walmart is smart enough to fix it right. I've done other repair jobs in high traffic areas where the owners just want to patch the bad areas. We always end up back within a year or so to do it again because patching doesn't work. 

[Resonator]

Are you running any kind of TopCon laser on the grader blade? (Don't see any receiver).

[Patrick NC]

Are you running any kind of TopCon laser on the grader blade? (Don't see any receiver).

No sir. String line and eyeballs. I'm one of the few left that doesn't depend on GPS or a laser. 

[Resonator]

Nice!  I've worked with different operators on different jobs who have been able to do that, and I'm always impressed. The guy that built my septic system got the grade smoothed within 1/4" just with the big excavator bucket.

[mike_belben]

I let the water tell me when im right.  It never cares what a gadget says.

[barbender]

It all has it's place. On the one hand I wouldn't want to be clueless when the technology goes down, but the fact is it increases productivity. Take setting grades- do you want to use an old optical instrument and use 2 people, or push the button on the laser and do it with one? There's no way a person can match the speed and precision of machine laser grade controls. Sometimes it is faster to do the job manually without setting the laser equipment up. I got out of construction before GPS controls were really prevalent in my area, so I haven't worked around those but I'd expect much the same.