# Gravel driveway at a carwash



## guyute65045 (Nov 23, 2006)

I am in a rural area and went out to bid a job this morning which entailed doing a 60' driveway exiting what is to be a one car car wash. The customer wants a gravel driveway, I am doing the bid up as if it were a regular old driveway leading to a garage. Then I got to thinking wet cars leaving the car wash, gravel road, the county is known for heavy soils(I haven't seen plans for conventional septic in 3 years) Should I be doing something more than just fabric and compaction. I can see problems with our wet springs and falls.
The lot is flat, driveway is going over what is currently a lawn, no utilities to dig around, and all spoils can be placed on site. It really seems to be an easy job,until I get to thinking about the water coming off all the cars. 
Any input would be appreciated.


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## Vinny (Jul 21, 2007)

guyute65045 said:


> I am in a rural area and went out to bid a job this morning which entailed doing a 60' driveway exiting what is to be a one car car wash. The customer wants a gravel driveway, I am doing the bid up as if it were a regular old driveway leading to a garage. Then I got to thinking wet cars leaving the car wash, gravel road, the county is known for heavy soils(I haven't seen plans for conventional septic in 3 years) Should I be doing something more than just fabric and compaction. I can see problems with our wet springs and falls.
> The lot is flat, driveway is going over what is currently a lawn, no utilities to dig around, and all spoils can be placed on site. It really seems to be an easy job,until I get to thinking about the water coming off all the cars.
> Any input would be appreciated.


 I would think you'd want to do a deep excavation so you get some large stablization stone in there but you should bid it both ways because if your competitors bid it the cheap way you 'll need to prove you can compete but then suggest the right way and up sell


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## Steve Manning (Sep 20, 2007)

I wouldn't want to wash my car at a car wash and pull off on a gravel drive to stir up the dust on my freshly washed car. I recommend a grass paver like grass pave2. It has a gravel base with a plastic structure filled with sand that grass grows out of. It has good load bearing properites. See thid link.
http://www.grasspave.com/GP2/grasspave.htm

And there are several similar type products. I just couldn't see the point of a car wash with a gravel drive unless you were just planning on knocking the mud off.


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## guyute65045 (Nov 23, 2006)

*Tanks*

Thanks for the responses so far. I have two bids working one for the way I would bid it if it were a regular driveway with compaction, fabric and a really nice road material I get that comacts down to where there is almost no dust in the summer. I also have a bid going that involves a deeper excavation, more sub-base prep and more extensive drainage. I guess my question was more about soil amendment, when I worked in Oregon we encountered a lot of wet soil and the company I worked for used to mix in and compact portland cement 3-5% before laying down the road fabric. I am thinking that the customer will shy away from anything that involved, but I can forsee lots of potholes and ruts with all of that water dripping on it all year. I am definatley going to look into those grass pavers as they look very user friendly. Anybody have experience with them?


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## Steve Manning (Sep 20, 2007)

We are in the middle of a job where we are excavating an existing stone surface fairgrounds site and replacing with 11 in of stone and sand base with Modi Garden Grid over 115,000 sf at a Fairgrounds site. Unfortunately we got a late start and the contractor will have to pull off the site before the first event (motorcycle rally). 

With a thick base like that it is made to handle semis and other heavy loads on occasion. I think the important thing was once you undercut make sure you get atleast 95% compaction standard proctor. If you can't get an adequate proof roll with a fully loaded tandem axle dump truck then over excavate those areas and place some engineered fill. Then come back with sufficient base for anticipated loads properly compacted. Then lay down the grid backfill it with sand and hydroseed or sod. The grid is all interconnected so it should eliminate rutting and potholes by better distributing the loads across the base.

Call a rep in your area and he can probably give you more details for your specific location and possibly local jobs where it has been used.


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## stoner (Oct 19, 2007)

Hi, every time I have my truck wash I notice that very little water drains from it by the time it gets on driveway.


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