JimK wrote:
Next spring I'm going to have to revisit the access track/bridleway
which is deteriorating again despite regular topping up with MOT.

So thinking of casting in situ two 18 inch wide concrete "tank tracks"
for 150m!

Challenges will include:

1 keeping costs down.. mixing own concrete, doing a "section" at a
time.... or sod it and try and do 4m3 runs at once with small ready
mix trucks?

trying to mix 15m3 of concrete manually is a thankless task, readymixed is
the way to go, but this is likely to cost you over a grand



2 Keeping access open (incl vehicles) during concrete cure stages:-
Road forms or equivalent pegged for sides and a (possibly bolted down)
steel plate top for wheeled traffic whilst initial curing takes place
- how thick a plate? thinner is cheaper and easier, but at what
thinness will it bend/buckle and backfire??

3 Shaping the concrete to avoid sharp corner edges (horses etc) -
perhaps some sort of curved top (in section) road forms, or similar or
fabricate something to do the job... or will I be able to simply knock
the sharp edges off with a big hammer after a few days curing when
"mould" removed?

you can run a spade along the sharp edge and round it off a bit.


4 Do i need reinforcement? plan on 4inch average concrete depth for
cars, tranny vans, small oil tankers.


4 inch will probably be ok, but I'd get some thin steel reinforcing in it,
just to give you a few extra years

5 Any way I could easily replicate (or just give a passing impression
of) stone flags as I cast it? (other parts of the track have these
still in situ - it would be "nice" to give a nod to the vernacular..)

you can run a jointer across it before it finishes curing, to give it some
'joints', but trying to mould any kind of pattern onto the face would be
time consuming and probably a waste of time as I wouldn't expect it to last
very long.

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008