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Depth of tarmac for track


jfb

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Anyone with knowledge on tarmac?

 

I have a 300m single track I share with neighbours and there is movement to tarmac the lot as it is a pothole nightmare despite multiple filling ins.

Tractors/lorries all drive down it fairly regularly.

 

I know there is a trade off between quality/depth of sub base and longevity but there are significant cost issues.

 

1. What is the minimum overall depth of tarmac anyone would suggest?

2. What size aggregate would be best?

2. How important is it to have a wearing course? Or can one get away with one layer?

 

Presumably a wearing course has finer aggregate - 10mm? 6mm?

 

Cheers

 

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Personally I wouldn't put tarmac over the top - chances are it will crumble and create more expensive potholes.

 

If the base is already firm, I'd look at edging it with proper road kerbs and lay paving bricks on a sand bed - the surface may deform, but it won't crack as readily.

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20mm base coat will work at 75-80mm but needs sealing if you’re not going to put a wear course on the top. It also needs edging correctly and if it’s going to take load of a wagon then it also needs to have a 150mm fully compacted sub base. 
 

300m at 3m wide is going to cost you north of £35-40k done properly - what’s your budget ..??

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shutter it and use readymix ?

I,ve got 400yds and although it was tarmac60 years ago

I am getting the feeling there will not be much left of it by time I get all cleared --i know its granite base undeneath ,so my guesstimate is i would need 160cum  to give 100mm thickness --,just do it in bits --maybe ok with 75mm due to base --time will tell 

160cu @£80 cum =£12800+my labour to lay it 

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2 hours ago, PeterW said:

20mm base coat will work at 75-80mm but needs sealing if you’re not going to put a wear course on the top.

By 20mm base coat do you mean a base coat with 20mm aggregate? Which then needs sealing (with what?) if no wear course going on.

So in theory you could have just an 80mm layer so long as it is sealed.

 

I have measured the track on google and it comes to 215 metres - width looking at 3.5m.

When you say 'done properly' in your estimate peter do you include materials/work for compacted sub base, tarmac and edging (kerbs or are there other options?)?

 

Edited by jfb
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4 hours ago, Mike said:

Personally I wouldn't put tarmac over the top - chances are it will crumble and create more expensive potholes.

will be scraping the existing back so not simply going on top

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If you don't put kerbs in the tarmac will spread out then crack and fall apart eventually. 

Concrete would be an option doing it in 3/4m bays. You can just move the side rails along as you go. It won't break at the edges as much as tarmac would.

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Along similar lines, we have a shared pothole strewn track that 4 properties use, we’re the 4th, 60m from the road. A friend of mine says it can be fixed with road planings which as I understand is the tarmac scraped off existing roads prior to them being restored with a new layer of tarmac. Does anyone have any knowledge of fixing tracks with planings? A cheap option by all accounts. 

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Planings are ok if you get a big roller. You need a 3 tonne bomag or bigger preferably, a JCB to scalp the top off and then spread the planings and preferably a warm day ..!! If the planings are warm then they bind better and don’t move. 

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Plannings are sometimes used as a hardcore, farmers use it (and other types of hardcore) to reinforce dirt roads. You still get potholes but they can just be filled in with more of the same. 

 

 

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@Temp thanks for that. I’ve just been looking at some YouTube farmer stuff re the planings and how they fix their tracks. I reckon it could be a goer. Not too sure about pouring diesel over it as many seem to recommend. 

 

@PeterW I’ve had a quick Google of the roller (because I had absolutely no idea what you were talking about!) and that shouldn’t be too much of a challenge either, as a rental. Thanks. 

 

I reckon the only hurdle left to leap is persuading the other 3 that use the lane to chip in. I’ll knock some doors. 

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@Russdl You get about 5 square metres to the tonne from planings so a 3m wide track 60m long will need about 40 tonnes in total. Prices vary from £7-10/tonne. £6-700 should sort your track as a JCB is about £100 a day, Bomag about the same. 

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Also important to consider why/how potholes form in the first place. Drainage is key to a stone track as running or pooling water soon errodes the surface and leaves a small pothole which can the grow when a tyre passes through it and throws out the water and some of the stone. If you observe how forestry roads are built they have considerable camber to shed water off the track and a ditch to carry this water away. Road crash barrier makes a cheap gully to shed water off the track and will take a lorry if concreted in no problem.

 

I have a potholed stone track too :)

DSC_2116.JPG

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