How do you repair an eroding dirt road?

Question

I live on a private dirt road that slopes to a lower area. My road is slowly eroding and getting narrower. How can I efectively rebuild my road, and how much would it cost. I live in MA, Northshore area.

Answer 1

I have a dirt/gravel road driveway. My driveway crosses a small stream, and it flooded on a few occasions. The water running over the road washed away the gravel and eroded the base a little, but it was mostly stopped by the rock used in the base.

You need to take two measures to correct your problems. First, identify and correct the cause of the erosion. If you don't then any repair you make to the road will not last. Install the proper drainage that is needed. It will be worth it in the long run.

Second, it sounds as if your road might not have a proper base. The base is usually ~1 ft of a mix of large and small rock on which the driving surface is built, usually finer (2" and smaller) gravel. You could limit the addition of a good base to the damaged area. Depending on the size of the job, you could do this by hand. I've had the rock delivered to the job site, even dumped directly into the needed area.

I've included a link. Although this link is specifically about asphalt, it discusses the importance and construction of the base layer.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/asphaltdriveway

Answer 2

Live in TN have the same problem at times, look in paper for some one that has an ad for dozer work, or grading, we get some one for about $50 an hr with a 4 hr min,