Driveways: what do we do?

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The main driver for what we do is whether we are constructing a new driveway, or repairing an existing one.

In terms of driveway repairs, a resurfacing is the simplest to do. If a drive was in good condition, with no potholes or gullies, and just needed fresh gravel deposited, we might just run that gravel out, compact it with a roller, and call it a day.

These situations are relatively rare though, as most people will wait until things get bumpy before they notice the driveway needs some love.

The next step up is a proper repair. Here we will grade the driveway before laying the gravel. This aims to remove those potholes, gullies, odd trenches, run-off eroded cuts, slumps and pits in the drive before then laying down a fresh gravel road-base. This extends the life of the driveway by not leaving these weak points to fill up with water, or get muddy when it rains, exacerbating material loss from the road.

Many sites have existing drainage in situ, but as the drive decays so does the drainage. It usually fills with mud, soil, leaves, organic matter, and pretty much becomes useless. Part of the repair process can be to clean out or thoroughly repair these drains, culverts, run-off areas, gullies and channels.

Now we get to the little bit of both section. These sites are usually in poor condition, requiring driveway repair. This means grading, laying fresh gravel, the rolling it. But in many of these cases it is clear that the addition of drainage would extend the life of the driveway, plus its accessibility in poor weather, substantially. So we then construct new drainage forms along the existing driveway to enhance it. This usually means some earthworks, digging trenches, perhaps laying larger rocks, pipes, or just simple gullies.

This is the starting from scratch. Here, if required, we do the major earthworks we need to, to create a well angled roadway, then grade the upper layer of soil to remove some topsoil and plants, and run a roller over it to compact it. Then we lay road-base, roll that, and finally put another final layer of road-base and roll that. All this layering and rolling aims to compact the soil and the gravel to form a rigid, interlocked material, that can withstand vehicles, moisture, expansion and contraction, and water run-off for years to come.

This is the whole hog. As we construct the driveway, we cut the basic drainage forms. We grade the upper layer of soil, run the roller over it to compact it. Then we finalise the drainage works, laying pipes for culverts, large fist sized rocks for slowing speeding water or overflow areas, smooth out side gully drains etc. We then lay road-base, roll that, put our final layer of road-base and roll that. This finishes with an integrated driveway with drainage, extending the lifespan of the roadway for years to come.