Turning into our narrow, 200-year-old, packed-dirt driveway had always been arm-wrenching. In “mud-time,” during each spring run-off, the drive entry hosted a running stream, while a periodic spring turned the section beside the house into a bog large enough to swallow small cars. The turnaround at the rear of the house had turned into a swamp. Then, our New England, hill-country road was graded and paved—making the approach swampier still—and we decided it was high time to bring the Colonial-era wagon path up to the automotive-era demands of modern times. Now our problems and solutions will not be the same as yours, but the steps we took should help you build a driveway, or renew the drive, of your own country place. Landscaping and gardening can be two of the most cost-effective ways to add value to your cost of new driveway Perth.
Existing driveways should be “grandfathered” so that surface and interior improvements are exempt from building code and/or zoning regulations. However, if you are making a new or substantially enlarged curb-cut onto a public way, the “setback” from property lines, dimensions and construction of your driveway will require approval from the town(ship) highway supervisor or engineer. If entering a state or county road, an additional permit and inspection are needed. To find out applicable regulations, you can visit your town clerk. Even if it is not required, a consultation with the township or county road boss can provide invaluable help in designing and constructing the best driveway for your soil type, weather, and elevation. Indeed, you maybe able to hire the municipal crew and equipment for the heavy work. Keep in mind that rates are competitive and no one knows how to do the job better.
Early Roads: Building Lessons from the Past
A driveway is a miniature road. Lessons from the pre-mechanized past may be instructive, especially if you plan to do some of the work yourself:
With the advent of wheeled vehicles, Stone Age footpaths became rutted, swampy areas became impassable, and steep grades became untraversable. The first roads (built 3,000 years ago in the Greek islands) were ruts, chiseled into rock hillsides to guide soil and water carts up to terraced fields. Today, the same “technology” is used on mountain logging roads, where ruts are intentionally worn into curves and grades in order to keep fast-moving, heavily-loaded trucks on track when mud roads are wet and slippery. You may find that a rut trail serves just fine for the four-wheel-drive track out to your back 40. Cut the trail in late spring in soft, but not soaked soil, and dig out rocks and roots that are interfering with the ruts. With steady use, the trail should gradually become compacted over the summer and fall, and the ruts should keep you on the road and moving in everything except for axle-deep mud or deep snow.
Road Construction in History
Romans were the preeminent road builders of the ancient world. The illustration shows a cross-section of a typical Roman road. A stone footing, compacted gravel or rubble interior, and a cobble surface remained firm in wet weather but would not turn to dust on dry days. Sides were ditched to carry off water, and culverts and bridges were built over dips to carry water under the road. Cobble surfaces were fine for foot-Legions but too bumpy for wheeled vehicles, and construction was (forced) labor-intensive. In the 19th century, J. J. Mac Adam designed British roads with smoother surfaces that could be built quickly and economically by freemen and draft animals. Not oiled or asphalted like modern macadam roads, the top was of fine crushed rock that compacted with use to shed water, but would not become too dusty in the summer. The road was domed and ditched to carry off rain. Although modern highways have a deeper multi-level foundation and solid asphalt or concrete surface, they are really not much different from Mac Adam’s original design.
The Modern-Day Driveway
For your own driveway, it’s doubtful that you’ll want to bury stone blocks Roman-style. You’ll want to adopt Mac Adam’s formula of digging out topsoil and laying in a well-ditched, contiguous-ribbon wedge of adhesive soil and rocks, compacted to repel water and topped so it won’t grind to dust.
I’ll warn you now that this article covers only driveways of forgiving natural materials, which homeowners can design, build, and maintain at reasonable costs. I’ve seen too many amateur-laid thin, unreinforced concrete driveways crack, and too many asphalt driveways go gummy and sprout grass because they weren’t rolled and the underlayment wasn’t salted. Oh, there is a cold-set, water-mix asphalt you can buy in drums or pickup-truck lots, but it is suitable for walkways at best. Preparing a rolled gravel surface for hot-top or laying forms for concrete—and then trying to lay transit-mixed concrete or stick-to-everything-but-the-gravel asphalt so it turns out uniformly smooth—is no job for an amateur. If you want an asphalt or concrete driveway, save your pennies, look in the Yellow Pages…and have pros do the whole job.
Planning the Driveway Design
The first step is to design (or redesign) your driveway so that it will handle modern vehicular traffic. The driveways of old country homes were designed for horses and wagons. They are narrow, have tight curves, and negotiate hills too abruptly for modern vehicles, so these old driveways need to be broadened and have their transitions eased.
When you buy a new home, layout of the driveway should be a major factor in the location and orientation of house and outbuildings. Walk the land until you know every dense stand of mature trees, every stream, wet spot, and rock outcropping. Then using a plat or survey map (if you have one), or paying for a topographical survey if you must, draw a detailed map of the land. Toy around with alternative layouts—avoiding as many hazards as you can. The more time you spend with paper and pencil, the easier time you will have when you go to lay out the driveway.
Few of us have much choice when it comes to the compass direction that our driveway faces and the terrain that it will traverse. If you do have an option, pick a southern exposure which will melt snow and dry quickly. Don’t build a driveway along the route of prevailing winds; it can become an expressway for cold blasts in winter and dust devils in summer.
If the driveway is long and must run over extreme or complex elevations, across year-round streams or swamps—or must be blasted through rock ledge—you are in for a major expense. If this is the case, you are best advised to hire a civil engineer to lay it out for you. If your driveway is short or on land with a gentle grade and easy rise and fall, you can do your own planning and layout on-site. Your strong back or a good heavy-equipment operator can do the rest.
Traffic Safety and Driveway Visibility
Traffic safety comes first, and you must locate and design the driveway entrance to offer ample visibility. Be certain that you check with the town clerk for local regulations. But in a typical rural jurisdiction, the view from the driveway (its aspect ) must offer a clear view of oncoming vehicles for 500 feet in both directions on a highway carrying high-velocity (over 50 mph) traffic; and for 100 feet if it is a low-speed road.
To evaluate aspect, sink sticks at each side of your driveway entry so that their tops are four to five feet above the road surface. Measuring from the center of the driveway along the road, set one stick to your right on the far side of the road, and the other to the left on your side of the road. Check aspect as though you were sitting in a vehicle with its front bumper 10 feet back from the road edge. If you can remove trees or other obstructions to better see the stick tops and you can open a clear vista between them, get out the chain saw. If sharp curves, immovable terrain, or buildings preclude a safe aspect, then you’re going to have to redesign or relocate the driveway. If on a sharp curve, you may be able to widen or branch the entry, or you can build a one-way driveway across the curve to provide an acceptable aspect at each end. If you cannot come up with a suitable plan, you may need a variance. Again, go and see the town clerk.
The Driveability Factor
Your second consideration should be driveability. The driveway must provide safe, easy access for a motor vehicle from the road to the house (and back) in all weather. You’ll want space for two vehicles to pass each other at the entry, at the house end, and on blind curves (at least). Zoning regulations will stipulate the width of your driveway and its grade for a minimum distance beyond the curb cut. A typical one-vehicle driveway is eight to 10 feet wide (12 feet is better) with a grade of no more than two percent at the entry—that is, rising no more than two feet in 100 feet of length—and a grade of no more than eight percent thereafter (and five percent is better). Unless you want to burn out your clutch, a maximum grade is 15 percent. Curves should be gradual—arcs of a circle with a radius of at least 24 feet. A 48-foot turning radius is better (and essential if you want a moving van or UPS truck to get in and out).