My parent's cars are sinking in mud.

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Newai
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My mom and dad have a muddy driveway and every time I go over there it looks like their vehicles are getting deeper in the mud. He puts gravel in there every year, but that part of town the ground is just so soggy that it's not helping much. So we'd really like some suggestions on how to deal with that short of actually hot-topping the drive. Any ideas?
 
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I'm not sure these would work if the ground is very soft. Also not sure of the cost. But I suppose you could just put them on the tire tracks, to keep the cost low.

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That's interesting. I'll show them the pic and see what they think. Thanks.
 
Newai said:
My mom and dad have a muddy driveway and every time I go over there it looks like their vehicles are getting deeper in the mud. He puts gravel in there every year, but that part of town the ground is just so soggy that it's not helping much. So we'd really like some suggestions on how to deal with that short of actually hot-topping the drive. Any ideas?

The easiest way I know of is first to dig out about six inches to a foot, if the excavated material has as much gravel in it as adding a little every year makes me believe you can probably re-use it. Then in the bottom of your excavation place some of http://www.usfabricsinc.com/geotextileapplications/haulroad" Then add the the excavated material back in the hole. If you make sure that everything drains decently and everything is compacted properly, you will never have a problem again. That fabric keep all ground moisture from coming up into your fill. You may need to replace the excavated dirt if it has a high clay content though. I also noticed on the companies home page, of the link I provided, they have a video of a product made especially for driveways, but I didnt watch it to see what it was all about.
 
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Newai, is there a paper mill near you? Paper mills have to replace dryer fabrics frequently, and those fabrics can often be had for free if you know someone who works in the mill. Excavate, lay down the fabric, and top with gravel/sand mixture. Paper companies here use such fabrics to stabilize very muddy sections of roads used to haul out pulpwood and timber from the forest.
 
Newai said:
My mom and dad have a muddy driveway and every time I go over there it looks like their vehicles are getting deeper in the mud. He puts gravel in there every year, but that part of town the ground is just so soggy that it's not helping much. So we'd really like some suggestions on how to deal with that short of actually hot-topping the drive. Any ideas?
I have a similar problem on the shoulder of the street near the mail box. It would get muddy in the spring time after the big melts. I got some patio mix which stiffens the ground and that firmed up the area.

Even if one is to put down asphalt, one would have to stabilize the soil. I've seen the system that lisab posted.

One could use geotextiles or some stabilizer, and then asphalt.
 
My/our (8 residents on 40 acres) drive is ~1/4 mile from the county road. Since it's a private road we had to make and maintain it.

When you have new soft earth, you need to start with large rock, not gravel. We started off with 4 inch rock as a base then topped with 1 inch road rock (uncleaned 1" limestone with lots of crushed/powdery limestone). The road rock will pack and make a very hard drivable surface. As time goes on, the rock will get pushed down so additional 1" road rock needs to be added.

The key is the starting with big rock first.
 
I have ~1/2 mile of road on my property that I let the local snowmobile club use as part of their trail system. I shudder to think of the cost to turn that winter skidder road into something that would support vehicles. The guy who owns the local gravel-pits and sand-pits is a friend, but even if he treated me well, I fear that the cost of materials could send both his kids to Ivy-league schools, even if I did all the preliminary excavations/spreading of materials/finishing with my own tractor.
 
turbo-1 said:
I have ~1/2 mile of road on my property that I let the local snowmobile club use as part of their trail system. I shudder to think of the cost to turn that winter skidder road into something that would support vehicles. The guy who owns the local gravel-pits and sand-pits is a friend, but even if he treated me well, I fear that the cost of materials could send both his kids to Ivy-league schools, even if I did all the preliminary excavations/spreading of materials/finishing with my own tractor.

Yep. It cost a lot. We've been working on it for nearly 30 years now. Mostly because of water erosion during those 6+ inch rains. Our property is in the hills and lots of water can converge toward the road and overflow the ditch lines.
 
Thanks for the help everyone. I printed this thread out and will give it to them. Assuming they haven't disappeared by then. :biggrin:
 
dlgoff said:
When you have new soft earth, you need to start with large rock, not gravel.

I agree. I had construction rubble (broken concrete/brick/ etc) hauled in. Much cheaper.