Concrete paths and ramps - mesh?

[Conor]

We're planning on 900mm wide, 100mm deep poured concrete paths around the house. This will include our front door ramp and covered porch. This will eventually be paved with 40mm granite pavers. Probably not bother paving around the sides of the house so will set levels accordingly.

 

All of this sits on the loose, clean stone backfill (50mm stones) that surrounds our basement. I'll put down a layer of geo-membrane on top so we can have a 100-200mm or so of compacted type 2 or 3 before the concrete.

 

I'm worried about movement and cracking.... So thinking a393 mesh and movement strips. Is this sensible or overkill? Is there a cheaper way? 

 

Edit- A252 mesh is £40 cheaper per sheet (£80 Vs £120). Is this good enough for crack control in this case?

Edited April 17, 2022 by Conor

[dpmiller]

Fibre. Our man swears by it...

[Ronan 1]

If ground is well compacted with a layer of type 1 or 804 or whatever you particular quarry calls it you don't need any mesh. If you are genuinely worried about movement and cracking 393 is way overkill and give no benefit at all for cracking over the lighter 252 or even 192 or 143.

If fibre mesh is available also a good option although depending on the fibres and concrete finisher some don't like them as some can be a pain to finish especially on thin slabs.

[Russell griffiths]

If you put control joints in the correct place then it’s unlikely to crack in other places. 
for a long path I would put them every 2.5m and just look out for thin paths joining larger areas, it will crack at the join. 

[IanR]

I've put in 1500 wide paths that will eventually have a 25mm resin bound topper.

 

In the hope they will be good for +25 years without cracking, I have 100mm compacted, crushed hardcore with 25mm Type I compacted on top and 100mm concrete with A193 mesh at 50mm deep.

 

I've got slopes up and down to a high area at the entrance and have only put joints in at the start and finish of each slope. The joints are concrete against concrete with no expansion medium. The path in the pic below is around 30m long, and I have no cracks after nearly 5 years.

 

 

Edited to add:

Elsewhere I do have an internal corner where the path goes from 1.5m to 3m wide, and I now have a hair-line crack starting at the corner and travelling diagonally away. I should have put a joint in where it went from 1.5m to 3m wide!

Edited April 17, 2022 by IanR