Couple of gravel drive questions Drainage pipes, concrete, footings and foundations. Post your questions and find answers here

[JoeSmith]

Hi All

I'm new here, so please go easy on me!

To get a car into our garage you have to drive up a very gentle slope (raises approx 25cm over 15m) across grass. Unfortunately, after wet weather, the lawn is pretty much mud and it's difficult to get the car into the garage as it sinks in with wheels spinning. We want to put in a gravel drive so that we can safely reach the garage.

I'd like to know if gravel will be a problem given that it's going on a slight incline.

Also, I'm not sure what the best thing to do is given that when we tested the firmness of the soil today using the 50mm x 50mm peg method it was possible to keep driving the peg in beyond 15cm although there was some resistance.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Joe

[welsh brickie]

you cant really just lay the gravel on the soil,it wont work even laying a thick layer of 75-100mm wont work.
You need to excavate for 150mm of H-A-R-D-C-O-R-E and compact it well with a machine then a weed suppressent material then 50mm of gravel

[JoeSmith]

Thanks Welsh Bricky. Can I assume then that if we just dig down, regardless of how much resistence there is when banging in the 50mm x 50mm peg, so long as there's 150mm of hardcore, we shouldn't get any problems with sinkage.

I hadn't intended to lay the gravel directly on the soil, was more wondering what the best course of action was if the ground wasn't as hard as stated in the 50mm peg method of checking.

By the way, is the 150mm measurement for hardcore before or after it's compacted.

Sorry for so many questions

Cheers

Joe

[welsh brickie]

[quote="JoeSmith"]Thanks Welsh Bricky. Can I assume then that if we just dig down, regardless of how much resistence there is when banging in the 50mm x 50mm peg, so long as there's 150mm of hardcore, we shouldn't get any problems with sinkage.

I hadn't intended to lay the gravel directly on the soil, was more wondering what the best course of action was if the ground wasn't as hard as stated in the 50mm peg method of checking.

By the way, is the 150mm measurement for hardcore before or after it's compacted.

Sorry for so many questions

Cheers

Joe[/quote]

You need at least 150mm finished thickness of well compacted hardcore before the chippings,you can hire a plate compactor for the day,You will need a weed proof membrane to stop weeds coming through and the the chippings to finish about 50-75mm.