Gravel Driveway Build
From loose sand to a driveway that holds
The Work
This one started as loose sand. The drive ran off a paved apron straight into soft ground cut through the timber, and every trip down it left another set of ruts. Sand does not hold a vehicle and it does not hold water anywhere useful, so rock dumped straight on top of it would have disappeared into it by the second winter. We cut and shaped the run first, setting a crown so water sheds off the surface instead of standing on it and cutting the same ruts again. Then base rock in, spread off the truck and compacted, so the driveway sits on something structural rather than floating on sand. The finished drive holds a loaded truck, sheds water, and does not need a load of rock dumped in it every spring.
The Challenge
Loose sand will not carry a vehicle and will not hold rock laid on top of it. Anything built here had to solve the base before it solved the surface.
Our Solution
Cut and crown the run for drainage, then build up on compacted base rock so the driveway is structural instead of a layer of gravel sitting on sand.