New driveway, finally.

[bczoom]

I accepted a bid from a company to pave one of my driveways 15 MONTHS ago.
They finally got around to doing it yesterday.
For the most part, it went well.
The drainage grate for the sidewalk was lowered more than I wanted but walking on or over it isn't bad.
It was supposed to be 4" deep. I can see in places it's 8-10" deep. Good for me.
I was surprised and impressed with the size of the crew and equipment they brought. In total, there were 11 trucks (including 2 18-wheelers and 2-3 tri-axle dump trucks and at least 14-16 crew. They even had flagger people for traffic.

Before:


During



After

 

[bczoom]

I'll wait a couple weeks then start finishing the edges. Gravel on the uphill side (there's a french drain there) and topsoil on the downhill slope.
They did tear out about 30 tons of dirt (I expanded the driveway) so I relocated that.
They were supposed to bring me 44 tons of millings this morning for another project but alas, they didn't show. Probably next week.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Looks great

 

[bczoom]

Had a tri-axle load of dirt delivered this morning to finish the driveway edges.
Cleanest, prettiest dirt I've ever bought. (Not as pretty IMHO as a load of pure black, aged manure but still...).
After this pic, I took around 1/3 of it already and put it beside the driveway. Pics to come (I don't carry my phone).

 

[FrancSevin]

Had a tri-axle load of dirt delivered this morning to finish the driveway edges.
Cleanest, prettiest dirt I've ever bought. (Not as pretty IMHO as a load of pure black, aged manure but still...).
After this pic, I took around 1/3 of it already and put it beside the driveway. Pics to come (I don't carry my phone).

View attachment 180301

That's a lot of dirt to move.
I got tired just looking at it

 

[bczoom]

That's a lot of dirt to move.

I have a tractor with loader that does most of the work. I can normally move a tri-axle of product in a couple hours. For this load, I had to drive around 500' to where I wanted it dumped so the back and forth added an extra 30-45 minutes.

I did have to do some hand raking. Too damn hot to do any more of that today.

 

[FrancSevin]

I have a tractor with loader that does most of the work. I can normally move a tri-axle of product in a couple hours. For this load, I had to drive around 500' to where I wanted it dumped so the back and forth added an extra 30-45 minutes.

I did have to do some hand raking. Too damn hot to do any more of that today.

I was assuming you had a loader but, the hand work is still there.

I've been moving tons of 1.0" minus limestone (What you call millings) with my 310 JD loader. But I still have to do final grading with a shovel and rake.

 

[bczoom]

I was assuming you had a loader but, the hand work is still there.

I've been moving tons of 1.0" minus limestone (What you call millings) with my 310 JD loader. But I still have to do final grading with a shovel and rake.

1" to dust is called 1A stone around here. Much cleaner than millings as limestone is pure and millings are just scrap that's from pavement that's been removed. I prefer 1A or 2A limestone but it's expensive for what I want to do (that's a different project).

I did lay out a lot then hand raked it (pic below). After the hand raking, I pulled out the garden hose and soaked the crap out of it. I'd rather have my quasi-gentle watering/packing as a first pass as opposed to a strong thunderstorm that may wash it all away. Will probably pull out the lawn roller tomorrow and see if I can pack it in harder.

Oh, and I own but don't live at this house. I can take my time with it.

I

 

[bczoom]

I packed the dirt down using my ZTR. Too steep for the lawn roller.
Then added more dirt (a finish coat) this morning.
Seeded, watered then covered in plastic (which works better than hay).
Damn, I'm using cinder blocks to hold down the plastic. Forgot how heavy those things are.