The road

[denverpilot]

So. With a bunch of unforecasted rain and snow I can see that the crown is right. However...

I can also see the edges of the road aren’t clearing into the ditches.

Three options...

1. Shave down the edges which will essentially make the road wider by killing all that grass — not desireable.

2. Cut drainage bars into those edges.

3. Buy fill dirt and raise about 200’ of the driveway a couple inches along there.

Figured I’d ask the brilliant minds of PoA your thoughts. Ha.

Need to get that section draining before I order a LOT of 3/4 minus granite to cover the whole thing.

I’m thinking it needs to come up. I could raise it by pulling the ditches in but that grass will take years to grow back.

There’s also a house up the road that built a huge barn and has mounds and mounds of fill dirt where they leveled off the top of a hill to do it. May ask em if they want some of it gone.

Somewhat problematic since I’d need a trailer to put it in just to move it over here.

Thinking even with $120 delivery charge per tractor trailer load, letting the local aggregate place do it sounds mucho simpler.

 

[CharlieD3]

So. With a bunch of unforecasted rain and snow I can see that the crown is right. However...

I can also see the edges of the road aren’t clearing into the ditches.

Three options...

1. Shave down the edges which will essentially make the road wider by killing all that grass — not desireable.

2. Cut drainage bars into those edges.

3. Buy fill dirt and raise about 200’ of the driveway a couple inches along there.

Figured I’d ask the brilliant minds of PoA your thoughts. Ha.

Need to get that section draining before I order a LOT of 3/4 minus granite to cover the whole thing.

I’m thinking it needs to come up. I could raise it by pulling the ditches in but that grass will take years to grow back.

There’s also a house up the road that built a huge barn and has mounds and mounds of fill dirt where they leveled off the top of a hill to do it. May ask em if they want some of it gone.

Somewhat problematic since I’d need a trailer to put it in just to move it over here.

Thinking even with $120 delivery charge per tractor trailer load, letting the local aggregate place do it sounds mucho simpler.

If'n yer able, hire it done... Youn's getting too old fer that nonsense...

 

[Bob Noel]

Option 4: leave it alone (is there really a problem having a puddle there?)

 

[PaulS]

Just drive fast through those parts, nothing to hit on either side unless you really screw up.

 

[Half Fast]

Option 5 - sell the house and move to a warmer and drier locale.

 

[Salty]

Option 6 - Park at the end of the driveway and get your steps in.

 

[luvflyin]

So. With a bunch of unforecasted rain and snow I can see that the crown is right. However...

I can also see the edges of the road aren’t clearing into the ditches.

Three options...

1. Shave down the edges which will essentially make the road wider by killing all that grass — not desireable.

2. Cut drainage bars into those edges.

3. Buy fill dirt and raise about 200’ of the driveway a couple inches along there.

Figured I’d ask the brilliant minds of PoA your thoughts. Ha.

Need to get that section draining before I order a LOT of 3/4 minus granite to cover the whole thing.

I’m thinking it needs to come up. I could raise it by pulling the ditches in but that grass will take years to grow back.

There’s also a house up the road that built a huge barn and has mounds and mounds of fill dirt where they leveled off the top of a hill to do it. May ask em if they want some of it gone.

Somewhat problematic since I’d need a trailer to put it in just to move it over here.

Thinking even with $120 delivery charge per tractor trailer load, letting the local aggregate place do it sounds mucho simpler.

So. With a bunch of unforecasted rain and snow I can see that the crown is right. However...

I can also see the edges of the road aren’t clearing into the ditches.

Three options...

1. Shave down the edges which will essentially make the road wider by killing all that grass — not desireable.

2. Cut drainage bars into those edges.

3. Buy fill dirt and raise about 200’ of the driveway a couple inches along there.

Figured I’d ask the brilliant minds of PoA your thoughts. Ha.

Need to get that section draining before I order a LOT of 3/4 minus granite to cover the whole thing.

I’m thinking it needs to come up. I could raise it by pulling the ditches in but that grass will take years to grow back.

There’s also a house up the road that built a huge barn and has mounds and mounds of fill dirt where they leveled off the top of a hill to do it. May ask em if they want some of it gone.

Somewhat problematic since I’d need a trailer to put it in just to move it over here.

Thinking even with $120 delivery charge per tractor trailer load, letting the local aggregate place do it sounds mucho simpler.

Looks like beyond the grass 'berms' the terrain is lower or at least level with the drive. Like those 'berms' got there from making the drive. Is that so? If so, #2 is the quick fix/

 

[Skyrys62]

Just drive around it.

 

[EdFred]

4. Pay to have it resurfaced with concrete or asphalt.

 

[Country Flier]

Raising it is the way to go. We live on a private road, 7 houses, 1300 foot road (everyone has acreage). We all chipped in and bought a total of $7000 worth of crushed limestone (that price included grading AND one shot of chloride). That raised the 1300 foot road about 6 inches at first. After settling/driving on it, it now is about 3 inches higher, which might not sound like much, but it was enough to get water over the side berms.

 

[denverpilot]

Looks like beyond the grass 'berms' the terrain is lower or at least level with the drive. Like those 'berms' got there from making the drive. Is that so? If so, #2 is the quick fix/

At least a foot lower in the ditches yeah. There’s a culvert running left to right that isn’t easily spotted in the photo.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Grass takes years to grow back? They make this stuff called grass seed . . .

 

[denverpilot]

4. Pay to have it resurfaced with concrete or asphalt.

LOL. True. But not happening.

 

[denverpilot]

Grass takes years to grow back? They make this stuff called grass seed . . .

Good luck getting it to grow here. You’re seeing it the wettest it’s been in eight years in that shot. Ha.

 

[denverpilot]

If'n yer able, hire it done... Youn's getting too old fer that nonsense...

Ha. That’s what the tractor is for.

 

[denverpilot]

Option 4: leave it alone (is there really a problem having a puddle there?)

Yeah, if you put crushed rock on top of that it’ll just turn into potholes.

I’m just going for “slightly better than the usual government grade work” here. Ha.

 

[denverpilot]

Just drive around it.

I saw someone do that Sunday on the county road. He was all bothered by three whole cars ahead of him so he turned off into the grass in his Tacoma and drove home through his yard. Hahaha.

 

[denverpilot]

Looks like beyond the grass 'berms' the terrain is lower or at least level with the drive. Like those 'berms' got there from making the drive. Is that so? If so, #2 is the quick fix/

Yeah it’s definitely the “USFS fix” usually seen around here in the mountains when they don’t want to spend on culverts.

Maybe it’s just bugging me there’s a culvert there already — so I want the darn water to go into the ditches and use it! LOL

 

[denverpilot]

This may help. The tufts of tall grass are where the culvert is. Standing water in the left ditch (which is uphill just barely) is probably because I need to clean out the culvert entrance.

Then it just runs downhill under the fence to the right and spreads out into the “yard”.

As for the question about the prairie grass growing back, the guy across the road overseeded for eight years to get that brown/tan low stuff to take.

He used a good prairie mix of hearty stuff for nearly no water conditions but the first year you either get lucky and seed while it’s rock hard and get a couple storms in April or May like this year (too late now) or you end up just feeding the birds even if you drill it in.

Three droughts have killed his again. But all any of us want is something to stop erosion. He says he’s giving up and he’s using bigger implements and a John Deere 3 series and tows water totes across it when he’s in a seeding year.

My junkier prairie “grass” survived because I left it super long in the drought year but a lot of it isn’t great species. Don’t care much. If I wanted it to be super hardy I’d try to hit a lucky year to get Buffalo grass going and make it a two summer project to ruthlessly keep the invasive stuff like Russian thistles out.

Mostly right bow just want to get a few thousand bucks worth of rock on the road this year so we aren’t walking in mud. Get the drainage right underneath it first. If that takes some dirt first that’s ok. Local aggregate place recommended against standard road base out here, it’ll erode out from under rock on top since this clay filled dirt likes to pool water as seen here.

 

[Half Fast]

Pretend you're a gov't engineer. Run electricity out to the site and install a pump to get the water over the little berm.

 

[luvflyin]

Yeah it’s definitely the “USFS fix” usually seen around here in the mountains when they don’t want to spend on culverts.

Maybe it’s just bugging me there’s a culvert there already — so I want the darn water to go into the ditches and use it! LOL

You need a bridge. Call these guys

 

[GRG55]

You just knew you were going to regret getting rid of the Yukon, with which you would have ignored all this and just driven through it.

My vote is to raise it up and make sure you can crown it to drain properly. Not sure of your soil conditions where you are, but I wouldn't use black dirt strippings if that is what the neighbour has for a stockpile. I'd be using pit run with 3/4 crush topping.

 

[Dana]

Cut some drainage channels first. If that fixes it, great, you're done. If it doesn't fix it, then you can consider more fill.

 

[Country Flier]

Cut some drainage channels first. If that fixes it, great, you're done. If it doesn't fix it, then you can consider more fill.

Get a good rain, and those drainage channels will erode like crazy.
$2000 worth of rock, have them drop it in motion to somewhat spread it, then smooth it with the box blade.

 

[FancyG]

Fill the holes/raise short section with ballast. Ballast doesn't go anywhere.


Drive on it till it settles, cover with 56's.

 

[denverpilot]

Yeah @GRG55 not black dirt just boring old dirt from around here with a decent amount of clay in it. Aggregate place says theirs has no clay.

Drainage slices - yeah they erode. Still that is a simple fix and if I timed it right the 3/4 crusher load with all the minuses and fines in it sitting in it would help but it’s kinda “half azzed”.

Of course this thing is already better now just by crowning it than it’s been in 8 years...

Think I’ll just watch for the break in the precip and get a trailer load of dirt. I have other places on the property — the dog loves digging huge holes near the house foundation — that need fill anyway so some fill dirt would be handy.

Have them running dump half the trailer along there and then make me a work pile somewhere for the other stuff and see how that looks.

The doggy hole problem is also going to get rocks on top eventually too so he’ll dig somewhere else. Ha.

That 100 lb dude can make tractor sized holes. Haha. He’s going to see me moving dirt and think it’s a fun game as soon as I start filling in his holes. Ha.

 

[EdFred]

Have @Ted bring out his dozer on a road trip!

 

[Half Fast]

Where’s the fun in fill dirt? There’s gotta be some way to fix this with dynamite.

 

[EdFred]

Where’s the fun in fill dirt? There’s gotta be some way to fix this with tannerite.

FTFY

 

[wsuffa]

Whatever gets you the most time on that orange toy...

 

[kyleb]

...is long.
With many a winding turn.
That leads us to who knows where.
Who knows when.

 

[Ted]

Have @Ted bring out his dozer on a road trip!

Nate would have a hard time using my wife’s dozer in his current condition. It’s about the least ergonomic and most strenuous piece of equipment I’ve ever used or seen. Plus it would exceed the tow rating of the RV by about 10,000 lbs.

I’m also not good at making roads yet, so it would probably end up worse.

 

[wrbix]

I deal with this on my 1/2 mile driveway constantly. The solution is a BOX Grader set up in such a way that:
1) offset just to the right of the right hand rear tractor tire,
B) angled horizontally SLIGHTLY lower on right, and
III) angled rearward a bit on the left.
That way when you CAREFULLY drive along the right edge a BIT of gravel is repositioned away from edge toward center. Requires a Box, not a simple blade.
The only fill to use on driveways is CRUSHER RUN - contains enough fine substrate to bind things together once packed down.
I wish I had a “steam” roller.
Good luck, have fun.

 

[Morgan3820]

Option 5 - sell the house and move to a warmer and drier locale.

Like Florida?

 

[bflynn]

In a serious theme - get a trailer and bring in crushed gravel. Drive the trailer down the road and shovel off gravel at the appropriate points. Level with a rake.

or ignore it. Let someone worry about the puddles.

 

[Torque beast]

Use SB2 or crushed rock. Don’t use dirt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Half Fast]

Like Florida?

Not dry enough. I recommend Arizona.

 

[denverpilot]

Whatever gets you the most time on that orange toy...

You're starting to get it. Lol.

For those wondering about how dry it usually is, we're at a little over (a whopping) 7" of precip for the year which is the wettest it has been here in 77 years.

Haha. This normally isn't much of an issue.

 

[Bob Noel]

You're starting to get it. Lol.

For those wondering about how dry it usually is, we're at a little over (a whopping) 7" of precip for the year which is the wettest it has been here in 77 years.

Haha. This normally isn't much of an issue.

well, since you don't need to worry about the 100yr storm (*cough* New Orleans *cough*), maybe just let it be....

 

[Half Fast]

Just throw a few boards over the low spot. Name it the Martha Lunken Memorial Bridge.