I have about a 500 foot crusher run driveway. It badly needs replenishment. I've been told to be careful about what the weather's like when it's done. Some people say don't do it when it's wet. Some say don't do it when it's cold.

What weather restrictions do I need to worry about??

Joe

 

Joe - I've been doing a lot of research on driveways as we are planning to put a 1200 foot drive in next year. Not an expert but I've not seen anything about the weather and installing a drive. I wouldn't do it when it's wet just because it will be a muddy mess. Beyond the issue of water and the fact that the drive should have a crown to it - have you looked into Geo-textile fabric. You place it under the stone to improve drainage and it keeps your stone from doing the disappearing act into the soil.

 

If you're talking about crushed concrete, we use it quite commonly in Florida.....

The standard way of doing it is,,,,min 4" ( I like 6" since it greatly retards grass, weeds growing from below), compact it and wet....don't do it when its raining only because its messy and you don't get the full benefit of the dust and powder that gets on the rocky part when its dumped and helps the whole thing harden.....I never try to crown it, just build at a slight 1/4" per foot slope to one side...the logic is your drainage effort if needed is only to one side.....

Its going to be dusty for a while, but over the span of 6 months, it hardens quite well and doesn't kick up quite so much.

Most companies around here use it as the only base for pavers........sand for filling the cracks.....

Haven't priced it recently (4 months) but last time it was $60 per yd.....

Good Luck

 

Gravel prices can vary greatly depending on availbility. I remember paying $60 a yard for gravel in fla and me transporting it
I haven't checked lately but here in N.E.Tn. crusher run is around $9 a ton.... but the haul bill is gone up to $100.

Call a couple of your local gravel pits for pricing. They usually have a bunch of trucks they do business with so they should be able to give you a firm price on hauling/spreading and the price per ton. The only variable will be how much rock gets loaded.

IMO it doesn't matter much about the weather. The only disavantage to spreading gravel if the ground is frzen, is it will lay on top until the ground thaws and could cause traction issues. It might take more gravel when it's wet but the purpose of the gravel is to displace the mud.... and a thin layer of gravel over dirt will sink in the mud when it gets wet and traveled. Obviously you don't want a dump truck to come if it might get stuck.

 

Dont do it while its WET. The tandem axle truck could sink running loads back and fourth. It called in the trades "grounds pumping" We run stone alot and even over compacted stone if we run over the same spot to many times you can physcially make the wet dirt underneath the stone come up through 12 " of crushed stone and bring it to the surface. Let it dry before re surfacing it. Doing when it wet also means the Tare on the truck will be heavier on the truck loading wet crush run ( More costs). I don't know how you are spreading it. chain the dump gate and drive out slowly to truck spread it. Either way wet stone is harder to spread out on crush run. Here we use 2 A modfied for stone driveways and maybe 3Rc for pre sub base. Sometimes I need to use My crawler loader to spread insted of my backhoe because of wet condations so we can still work.