# Load Capacity of driveway - Will a dump truck crack it?



## jogr

My eyes aren't good enough to see from here. Do you really want to take the chance?


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## sendres

I've seen this done three times, twice successfully and the third a large crack was created. IMO I wouldn't risk it. I could see how, seeing this was the builders home he would have probably exceeded the normal prep work done on most homes but who knows what kind of settling can occur under the pad and that can go back to the developers initial work rather than the builder's. Besides do you really want to miss the 100 and some wheelbarrow loads to the back yard. It's part of the experience. Another option would to have the load split to minimize the weight. Of course that will cost more but if you really want to get out of having do it by hand its an option. Still a risk but less. I now have a trailer I can get 2yd's of pretty much anything and I have no concern (or it hasn'st failed me yet), but I have to shovel it out by hand and make 6 trips for your 12yds. Best of luck.:thumbup:


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## jogr

I don't suppose you could rent a 2 to 4 yard dump trailer and tip the trucker handsomely to dump his truck into your trailer in several loads. He shouldn't mind sitting in the shade drinking a nice cold beverage while you drive each trailer load to the back and dump it. 

You'll still have some spillage to deal with but not 12 yards.


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## Tscarborough

A 12 yard dump is not able to do a yard or two here. When it dumps, it dumps. If he is good, he may be able to do 2 piles. The chances of breaking your driveway are pretty slim, but the consequence of him doing so can be costly. Air up the tire on your wheelbarrow and get after it. Your other alternative is to get a 6 yard load dropped,and then another as/if needed.


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## robertcdf

Personally I would get it dumped in the back and screw the driveway... But thats just me.


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## Deavis

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.


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## tigerbalm2424

No bearing on this case decision but I wanted to share!:yes: 

Ahh yes. Across the street from my house they were excuvating basements for a new developement. They had one of those mega haulers (that are NOT even street legal) moving dirt around, asked them if I could have a dump and he said sure! 

This is one truck load worth! I believe 20 plus yards, and only a 4" asphalt driveway! Held up fine! 










Scary part is I moved it all via wheelbarrow, then found out next weekend that my neighbor has a skid I could have used. The next couple of loads went muchhh quicker!


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## handy man88

tigerbalm2424 said:


> No bearing on this case decision but I wanted to share!:yes:
> 
> Ahh yes. Across the street from my house they were excuvating basements for a new developement. They had one of those mega haulers (that are NOT even street legal) moving dirt around, asked them if I could have a dump and he said sure!
> 
> This is one truck load worth! I believe 20 plus yards, and only a 4" asphalt driveway! Held up fine!
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> Scary part is I moved it all via wheelbarrow, then found out next weekend that my neighbor has a skid I could have used. The next couple of loads went muchhh quicker!



Um, you have an asphalt driveway. The OP has a concrete driveway. Asphalt gives, concrete doesn't.


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## tigerbalm2424

handy man88 said:


> Um, you have an asphalt driveway. The OP has a concrete driveway. Asphalt gives, concrete doesn't.


Settle...... Please read the first line in my reply. 

"No bearing on this case decision but I wanted to share"


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## FatAugie

handy man88 said:


> Um, you have an asphalt driveway. The OP has a concrete driveway. Asphalt gives, concrete doesn't.



I'm surprised he doesn't have to dips in his driveway where the wheels went.


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## handy man88

FatAugie said:


> I'm surprised he doesn't have to dips in his driveway where the wheels went.


That probably depends on when it happened, like if it was late afternoon on a hot summer day, it'd clearly have a big effect.


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## jiggyjack

Most reputable companies will ask you to sign a waiver before they drive on your driveway. Most seasoned drivers also can look and tell if it is safe to drive on.

If they stay away from the edges you should not have any problems but I have seen many that have cracked because the truck got too close to the edge. I have even seen Drivers that have refused to go on certain driveways.


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## Ron6519

The apron will crack, the driveway will crack so much it will look like a road map of the US.
Ron


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## crecore

Why dont you hire a smaller scale landscaping guy with a duelly 1 ton dump pick-up or something to make 2 or 3 trips? Worth the extra $100 compared to shoveling and wheel barrowing believe me.


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## Deavis

Talked to the builder of the house and it turns out that he did a pretty good job on the driveway. It is actually 5" thick with rebar over gravel and is the same concrete they used for the foundation (decent sized aggregate throughout). It is built on over a foot and a half of compacted road base that he trucked in to raise the house and driveway from its original position. Turns out he also trucked in about 6" of dirt to fill over the clay ridden base soil of the rest of the property. The driver took it slow and stayed away from the edges and there isn't a crack in the concrete. Worked out great I must say. Since I had some other work to do I rented a small front end loader and made quick work of the pile.

Turns out the gazebo and swing set in the middle of my yard are also sitting on 5" of concrete with rebar. Couldn't break them for the life of me with a big sledge or the bucket and now I know why. I'm going ot have to rent a jackhammer to get rid of them. The only thing that I found that was bad is it looks like the builder put down plastic sheeting (thick stuff, maybe 6 or 8 mils?) underneath all the soil he brought it. I know clay doesn't drain very well but my grass is basically sitting on a water barrier! I wondered why the yard didn't drain quite as well as I thought it should in the lower spots (closer to the plastic). Now I have to figure out what, if anything, I want to do about that.


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## azznbad

for starters if the guy with the truck is telling you he is bringing you 12 cubic yrds of sand and on a twin screw truck its going to weigh 15k per axle you might want to shop around. The material itself will weigh 2500 to 3000 per yard or more, so that's up to 36k right there. He can probably only get 12k on his steer axle and probably not even that so if he is saying the tandem is 15 tons and add the steer axle, then 43000 is his gross weight. Depending on the what kind of truck he has it's going to weigh close to 20,000. That means he is claiming the material weighs around a ton per yard and in my experience that isn't likely. Actually if he has dump bed on a class 8 truck the drive axles should be 34k for the tandem and 12 on the steer. Either way he isn't being straight with you, or worse doesn't know.
Now onto the drive question. Unless you've had drainage problems around the drive or it was laid over a marsh, the weight of a bob tail load of dirt shouldn't crack it provided as I said there isn't preexisting problems. But just because it was a contractors home doesn't mean it was even done as good as the homes he built, and there could be spots where the concrete is very thin, due to lazy or inexperienced guys doing the work. Having been to the dump truck and construction business for forty years I would back in and dump the load and go on. But if I were delivering to your house, I would suggest you get them to dump off 3 to 5 yds in front and then dump the rest where you need it. If they tell you they can't dump a little here and a little there they don't know what they are doing or just don't want to. I can dump a 37 ft dump trailer in fifteen places if I want, but I normally don't because it's a pain. If they are loading out of a small private pit that's not particularly a problem, other than you getting what you pay for. Cubic yardage is no a legal measurement in any of the states I deliver to because the only way to measure it is for the loader to eyeball it and usually folks pay for 12 yrs and get ten. Anyway that's a lot about the entire project and hope some of it helps. Oh yeah, clean sand and select fill in my area actually often weigh as mu h as 3400 lbs per yard, so don't get ripped off.


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## joed

Post is seven years old. I sure hope he not still waiting for the delivery.


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