Need some help on widening driveway/retaining wall (sketch attached)


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Old 10-06-14, 08:58 PM
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Need some help on widening driveway/retaining wall (sketch attached)

Hi,
I have a driveway widening project complete with retaining wall that I'd like some feedback on. You can find a sketch of it here : http://imgur.com/Gg2kBuB

I have some things I'm a bit puzzled about and wondering if anyone here could offer some insight.

1) I won't have the money to pour concrete on the proposed section this year. This is in northern Illinois so it gets plenty soupy in the fall and spring. Driving around on a muddy driveway addition will last about a week in the spring rains and then I'll need a tow truck to get out. Besides laying plywood across it, are there any other "temporary" options? Pavers seem expensive for a temporary surface, but maybe that's the way she goes. Also wondering if I should make a trench 6" below the current surface of the existing driveway so when it comes time to dig out the proposed section for concrete, my retaining wall is already at the correct elevation for the concrete? I seem to remember a concrete pour requires 6" of change in elevation from the finished surface, but not sure about that.

2) my local retailer sells 8x8 timbers in 8' lengths so I drew the sketch using those components. Item (B) shows a vertical timber being anchored into the ground to tie-in the bottom stair. Maybe a 4' piece of rebar would be OK too? I don't know if this is a good idea but it was the only way I could fit an 8' timber in that area for the stair section. I think with the other end of the stair being butted up against the knee wall in the garage, this should be sufficient to keep things from moving downhill. Since I've never done this before, I'm probably missing something. Also, note the buried telephone line. I need some stairs in the design in order to save a 30' trip around the wall everytime I come out of the garage. I plan on digging this by hand and gettting real close to the phone line so I can maximize the Run of the stairs.

3) item (C) shows a typical tieback I'm thinking of using. It seems like a real pain in the ass to dig up the yard to get these big "T" things in but from what I've gathered on youtube and elsewhere, this is the way it's done. Any thoughts? The elevation of the wall is a maximum of 32" on the stair-end of the sketch. The previous owner _did_ put some timbers in here but he nailed them together and the the whole thing leaned in and fell over into the driveway one spring. The soil is that typical slippery clay crap from the midwest so it holds a lot of moisture and pressure.

4) Item (D) shows a 12" wide patch of 1" gravel I was thinking of putting down behind the retaining wall . Why 12 inch? I don't know. It seemed like a nice round number. Should I make it wider? narrower? At the bottom of the gravel I'd put one of those drain hose things wrapped in a filter condom. Should I install a a clean-out at the stair-end of the hose? I think I need to run landscaping felt or something in between the dirt side and the gravel? Not sure what the standard is here and only saw a couple youtube videos where they used it. I think the idea is to use the felt as a barrier between the dirt and gravel to minimize the clogging of the filter condom. Is that correct?

5) Item (E) basically shows an 8x8 timber. Should I use regular treated timbers or Pressure treated timbers?

If you've read this far, thanks a lot. I've tried contacting a local landscaping outfit to pay for some consulting by haven't heard anything back from them yet. I have a skid-steer possibly becoming available this weekend so I'm trying to get some answers as quickly as possible before this weekend. If I can't get any, well f#ck all and I'll wing it : )
 
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Old 10-07-14, 02:03 AM
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#57 stone if you want temporary
 
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Old 10-07-14, 11:15 AM
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Thanks. How thick should the fill of gravel be? Dont want to have to dig more gravel out than whats neccesary next year to pour concete...like im gonna get to it next year hah
 
 

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