# Ranch road: How much (deep) road base?



## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Ayuh,... 8" to 12" base is more realistic...


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## LandscSolutions (Feb 4, 2010)

You can also install a geo-textile made specifically for road building to install over the areas that are more clay-based. I agee with Bondo that 8-12" is more realistic for those spots. Good Luck!


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## JaimeS (Feb 1, 2010)

*Thanks for the input*



LandscSolutions said:


> You can also install a geo-textile made specifically for road building to install over the areas that are more clay-based. I agee with Bondo that 8-12" is more realistic for those spots. Good Luck!


Thank you both. I have been interested in the geo-textiles for road building so will check into price. I was able to talk to some local road builders and they advised that using a 6" avg. depth will work fine and allow for 4" to 8" of base across the job site as required by substrate.


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## gyoungiii (May 15, 2010)

*How goes it?*

Like you, I have driveway on clay soil (the western edge of the llano: Manzano, NM). A local road guy says "grade, caliche, then gravel". But geotextile has peaked our interest; the local source carries Tencate products and they are suggesting Mirafi 600X. How have your plans developed?


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## JaimeS (Feb 1, 2010)

*Re: How goes it?*

I decided I didn't need the geotextile. I have had the land for 16 years and know the area and soils where the road/drive would go very well. Gets really slippery when wet, but a spinning wheel does not make a rut...only top inch or two is affected so it behaves like the caliche your guy is recommending. I went ahead with #2 road base, about 6" deep, right on top. I didn't need to grade as slope was regular and only about 3% - 4% grade. The geotextiles I had looked into where the ones used by forestry operations to build logging roads so I assume that for light vehicle traffic they would have been more than adequate. I would guess that the geotextile would perform as well or better than the caliche over its useful life, though I have no idea how long that would be. If the geotextile had a 10 plus year life than I guess it would be a matter of cost as to which to use (caliche vs textile). There is a lot of information available thru google on geotextiles for forest roads.


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