Hello all,

We have a long term renovation project in the French alps, vehicular access
is via a 30 metre long grass covered "drive way" which slopes gently upwards
to a height of about 1 metre over the length of the drive. In anything other
than dry weather, car access is entertaining to say the least. The local
council has a dump of gravel not far from us, and it seems to me that one
night we could easily "acquire" enough gravel to lay two lengths of gravel
to aid vehicular access. My question is, should we dig out two parallel and
shallow "ditches" to take the gravel (and if so, how deep should they be?),
or just lay the gravel straight on to the grass and bed it in by driving a
car over it?

Many thanks,

Glenn

On Thu, 26 May 2005 09:53:32 +0100, "Glenn"
wrote:

Hello all,

We have a long term renovation project in the French alps, vehicular access
is via a 30 metre long grass covered "drive way" which slopes gently upwards
to a height of about 1 metre over the length of the drive. In anything other
than dry weather, car access is entertaining to say the least. The local
council has a dump of gravel not far from us, and it seems to me that one
night we could easily "acquire" enough gravel to lay two lengths of gravel
to aid vehicular access. My question is, should we dig out two parallel and
shallow "ditches" to take the gravel (and if so, how deep should they be?),
or just lay the gravel straight on to the grass and bed it in by driving a
car over it?

Many thanks,

Glenn


It'll last longer if you dig a bit of a "foundation" for it. Having
said that,the "local council" or other authority might have some
objections?
Remove antispam and add 670 after bra to email

Be a good Global citizen-CONSUMECONFORMOBEY

Circumcision- A crime and an abuse.
http://www.sexuallymutilatedchild.org/

"tarquinlinbin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 26 May 2005 09:53:32 +0100, "Glenn"
wrote:


SNIP

It'll last longer if you dig a bit of a "foundation" for it. Having
said that,the "local council" or other authority might have some
objections?
Remove antispam and add 670 after bra to email

Be a good Global citizen-CONSUMECONFORMOBEY

Circumcision- A crime and an abuse.
http://www.sexuallymutilatedchild.org/

I should have perhaps added that the gravel is a waste product of some other
works the council are doing and it seems the local community at large are
digging into the diminishing pile of gravel.

Thanks,

Glenn

I should have perhaps added that the gravel is a waste product of some
other
works the council are doing and it seems the local community at large are
digging into the diminishing pile of gravel.


However, just because everyone else is taking it does not mean that they are
authorised to do so!

Peter Crosland

On Thu, 26 May 2005 16:33:40 +0100, "Peter Crosland"
wrote:

I should have perhaps added that the gravel is a waste product of some
other
works the council are doing and it seems the local community at large are
digging into the diminishing pile of gravel.


However, just because everyone else is taking it does not mean that they are
authorised to do so!

Peter Crosland

Absolutely, Peter.

The OP should be aware that because of the French culture of the law
being more of a guideline or something to be used when Something Bad
Happens, that the condition for EU membership of not having the death
penalty for gravel theft has not reached the French Alps.

Mme. Guillotine is full operational in the village square and the
jobsworths don't have peaked caps and look like Derek Guyler; nor do
they have striped Tshirts, ride bicycles and sell onions.

However, I am sure that they work for the local government and park
their detector vans behind the Mairie.



--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

I should have perhaps added that the gravel is a waste product of some
other
works the council are doing and it seems the local community at large
are
digging into the diminishing pile of gravel.


However, just because everyone else is taking it does not mean that they
are
authorised to do so!

Absolutely, Peter.

The OP should be aware that because of the French culture of the law
being more of a guideline or something to be used when Something Bad
Happens, that the condition for EU membership of not having the death
penalty for gravel theft has not reached the French Alps.

Mme. Guillotine is full operational in the village square and the
jobsworths don't have peaked caps and look like Derek Guyler; nor do
they have striped Tshirts, ride bicycles and sell onions.

However, I am sure that they work for the local government and park
their detector vans behind the Mairie.


LOL! The problem can be that as the French have an inbred hatred of the
British it would not be unheard of for them to use it as an excuse. If the
OP ends up in the mire he will know who to blame.

Peter Crosland

On Thu, 26 May 2005 11:11:41 +0100, "Glenn"
wrote:


"tarquinlinbin" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 26 May 2005 09:53:32 +0100, "Glenn"
wrote:


SNIP

It'll last longer if you dig a bit of a "foundation" for it. Having
said that,the "local council" or other authority might have some
objections?
Remove antispam and add 670 after bra to email

Be a good Global citizen-CONSUMECONFORMOBEY

Circumcision- A crime and an abuse.
http://www.sexuallymutilatedchild.org/

I should have perhaps added that the gravel is a waste product of some other
works the council are doing and it seems the local community at large are
digging into the diminishing pile of gravel.

Thanks,

Glenn


If this was in N.Wales Brunstrom would have a couple of coppers sat by
the pile, charging $$ you not to get nicked.

Rick

Try posting in alt.theft.fr

Peter Crosland

The gravel will disappear into the ground unless you provide some form of
sub-base for it. You will not achieve much this way in my opinion.
"Glenn" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

We have a long term renovation project in the French alps, vehicular
access
is via a 30 metre long grass covered "drive way" which slopes gently
upwards
to a height of about 1 metre over the length of the drive. In anything
other
than dry weather, car access is entertaining to say the least. The local
council has a dump of gravel not far from us, and it seems to me that one
night we could easily "acquire" enough gravel to lay two lengths of gravel
to aid vehicular access. My question is, should we dig out two parallel
and
shallow "ditches" to take the gravel (and if so, how deep should they
be?),
or just lay the gravel straight on to the grass and bed it in by driving a
car over it?

Many thanks,

Glenn

Hzatph wrote:
The gravel will disappear into the ground unless you provide some form of
sub-base for it. You will not achieve much this way in my opinion.

Local to us a "new" car-park has been made on a sloping field by
removing top layer of soil, laying a plastic mesh sort of device then
covering with gravel.

I'd think that would be the best option..... or a good set of M&S treads.


--
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Hi Pet
Local to us a "new" car-park has been made on a sloping field by removing
top layer of soil, laying a plastic mesh sort of device then covering with
gravel.

I think thats known as a geotextile http://tinyurl.com/cjdnl

Dave

"Glenn" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

We have a long term renovation project in the French alps, vehicular
access
is via a 30 metre long grass covered "drive way" which slopes gently
upwards
to a height of about 1 metre over the length of the drive. In anything
other
than dry weather, car access is entertaining to say the least. The local
council has a dump of gravel not far from us, and it seems to me that one
night we could easily "acquire" enough gravel to lay two lengths of gravel
to aid vehicular access. My question is, should we dig out two parallel
and
shallow "ditches" to take the gravel (and if so, how deep should they
be?),
or just lay the gravel straight on to the grass and bed it in by driving a
car over it?

When you say a gravel dump do you mean road salt?

If it is it will kill the grass and other plants and washes away in the
rain.

"dennis@home" wrote in message
. uk...

"Glenn" wrote in message
...

SNIP

When you say a gravel dump do you mean road salt?

If it is it will kill the grass and other plants and washes away in the
rain.

No, it's not road salt, it's glacial gravel, recovered from road works and
left at the side of the road prior to removal, which is now over due by
several years...

Many thanks to those that provided constructive comments, and a sharp rap on
the knuckles to those that assumed we were up to something naughty.

Glenn

"Glenn" wrote in message
...

"dennis@home" wrote in message
. uk...

"Glenn" wrote in message
...

SNIP

When you say a gravel dump do you mean road salt?

If it is it will kill the grass and other plants and washes away in the
rain.

No, it's not road salt, it's glacial gravel, recovered from road works and
left at the side of the road prior to removal, which is now over due by
several years...

Many thanks to those that provided constructive comments, and a sharp rap
on
the knuckles to those that assumed we were up to something naughty.

Glenn




I laid a gravel drive on top of clay, without much at all in the way of a
sub-base, except
some gravel I had lying about which I scattered in two lines along the drive
where the
wheel tracks would go. Then I put down sand, then a geotextile, then a bit
more sand
( to protect the geotextile ) then the gravel. It all went a bit tits up
since I used pea gravel
which went everywhere until I stabilised it by mixing in some clay subsoil
and getting rid
of the sub-10mm component. How big is this gravel you can get? I would
suggest 10mm
minimum, to stop cats sh*tting in it and prevent it from being traipsed into
the house, but
no more than 20mm. Also helps a bit if it's moderately angular, otherwise it
tends to skitter
out from under your feet. I do have slight ruts where the tyre tracks go,
but nothing
embarassing, and a yearly vigorous rake over erases them.

Andy.

andrewpreece wrote:

I would
suggest 10mm
minimum, to stop cats sh*tting in it and prevent it from being traipsed into
the house,

Our cats **** in 20mm fine, and it still walks into the house if you
have clay on yer boots.

On Thu, 26 May 2005 09:53:32 +0100, Glenn wrote:

vehicular access is via a 30 metre long grass covered "drive way"
which slopes gently upwards to a height of about 1 metre over the
length of the drive. In anything other than dry weather, car access
is entertaining to say the least.

1 in 30 is pretty flat, even on wet grass or snow. Maybe improve ones
driving skills and/or fit tyres better suited to snow than pure
tarmac.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Thu, 26 May 2005 09:53:32 +0100, Glenn wrote:


vehicular access is via a 30 metre long grass covered "drive way"
which slopes gently upwards to a height of about 1 metre over the
length of the drive. In anything other than dry weather, car access
is entertaining to say the least.


1 in 30 is pretty flat, even on wet grass or snow. Maybe improve ones
driving skills and/or fit tyres better suited to snow than pure
tarmac.

My jag will bog down on wet grass on a totally flat surface...

Glenn wrote:

Hello all,

We have a long term renovation project in the French alps, vehicular access
is via a 30 metre long grass covered "drive way" which slopes gently upwards
to a height of about 1 metre over the length of the drive. In anything other
than dry weather, car access is entertaining to say the least. The local
council has a dump of gravel not far from us, and it seems to me that one
night we could easily "acquire" enough gravel to lay two lengths of gravel
to aid vehicular access. My question is, should we dig out two parallel and
shallow "ditches" to take the gravel (and if so, how deep should they be?),
or just lay the gravel straight on to the grass and bed it in by driving a
car over it?

Many thanks,

Glenn



Gravel is not te best for this. Best is crushable limetsone which
eventually turns the drive into an approximation of a nice well drained
chalk upland.

Havingf said that, if its mud you have, get a pile of gravel and just
spread it over wehere you drive to about 2" depth.

And simply keep on doing it.

Evenytually you arriove at a matrix of gravel, mud and grass, which is
usually better grip than straight mud..

"Glenn" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

We have a long term renovation project in the French alps, vehicular access
is via a 30 metre long grass covered "drive way" which slopes gently upwards
to a height of about 1 metre over the length of the drive. In anything other
than dry weather, car access is entertaining to say the least. The local
council has a dump of gravel not far from us, and it seems to me that one
night we could easily "acquire" enough gravel to lay two lengths of gravel
to aid vehicular access. My question is, should we dig out two parallel and
shallow "ditches" to take the gravel (and if so, how deep should they be?),
or just lay the gravel straight on to the grass and bed it in by driving a
car over it?

Just yesterday I parked my car in a grass car park. The space I parked in was
sloping and as I was going to have to reverse out uphill I did think I am glad
its not wet!

When I left I noticed that there was some green plastic in the grass. Sort of
loose mat specially made for allowing light vehicles to be driven over grass.

--

Michael Chare

Michael Chare wrote:

Just yesterday I parked my car in a grass car park. The space I parked in was
sloping and as I was going to have to reverse out uphill I did think I am glad
its not wet!

I thought reverse gear in vehicles was always a lower gear than first?

My father learned to drive whilst in the army. He's well retired now,
but his
driving license put me to shame with all the categories of vehicles he
was
permitted to drive.

One day he was at a friend's house (built on hilly ground) when a
delivery
lorry arrived.
With the weight on the vehicle, the engine wouldn't pull the vehicle up
the
driveway.

Having watched the driver attempt this a couple of times, my
genetically-irate
father walked over to the driver's opened window and shouted at him to
"put it into the lowest gear".
By this point the driver wasn't too endeared with the situation, so he
shouted back words to the effect of "If you can do this better pal then
you're welcome to try."

So my father took him up on the offer, jumps into the lorry, turns it
round
then reversed up the hill!

I can just picture his smug satisfaction having taught the driver that
reverse
is actually lower than first.

Mungo :-)

On 28 May 2005 01:23:40 -0700, wrote:

I thought reverse gear in vehicles was always a lower gear than
first?

It normally is.

So my father took him up on the offer, jumps into the lorry, turns
it round then reversed up the hill!

How ever is easier to pull something up than push. On really slippy
surfaces it's frequently better to use a high gear and good
clutch/throttle control as it's harder to make the wheels spin. Once a
wheels is spinning you've lost most of available traction and (for an
ordinary vehical) the other "driven" wheel isn't going to do anything.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

wrote in message
ups.com...


Michael Chare wrote:

Just yesterday I parked my car in a grass car park. The space I parked
in was
sloping and as I was going to have to reverse out uphill I did think I
am glad
its not wet!

I thought reverse gear in vehicles was always a lower gear than first?

Usually exactly the same. Just sounds noisier due to the extra gear in the
drive.

Mike wrote:

wrote in message
ups.com...


Michael Chare wrote:

Just yesterday I parked my car in a grass car park. The space I parked

in was

sloping and as I was going to have to reverse out uphill I did think I

am glad

its not wet!

I thought reverse gear in vehicles was always a lower gear than first?


Usually exactly the same. Just sounds noisier due to the extra gear in the
drive.


No usual about it at all.

It is whatever the manufactures decide to make it.

Whether yuou have better traction reversing or going forwards depends on
which wheels are driven, and the surface conditions at the front and
back. as whell as where you attach the tow rope..

#

On Thu, 26 May 2005 09:53:32 +0100, "Glenn"
wrote:

Hello all,

We have a long term renovation project in the French alps, vehicular access
is via a 30 metre long grass covered "drive way" which slopes gently upwards
to a height of about 1 metre over the length of the drive. In anything other
than dry weather, car access is entertaining to say the least. The local
council has a dump of gravel not far from us, and it seems to me that one
night we could easily "acquire" enough gravel to lay two lengths of gravel
to aid vehicular access. My question is, should we dig out two parallel and
shallow "ditches" to take the gravel (and if so, how deep should they be?),
or just lay the gravel straight on to the grass and bed it in by driving a
car over it?

Many thanks,

Glenn



Having thought of this a little, it occours to me your drive may be
like my longer (1/3 of a mile) drive. When I got the house, it was
muddy, and we needed 4x4 to get up the drive. A day with an excavator,
and we scraped off the mud to reveal that some hundred or so years
ago, there was a solid rough stone track. With no extra treatment the
track can be driven along in all mut heavy snow or sheet ice.

In my case the mud washes off the fields onto the track, so new stone
would soon get filled with new mud. We remove the worst of the new mud
with the leaves once a year.

Rick

Rick wrote:

On Thu, 26 May 2005 09:53:32 +0100, "Glenn"
wrote:


Hello all,

We have a long term renovation project in the French alps, vehicular access
is via a 30 metre long grass covered "drive way" which slopes gently upwards
to a height of about 1 metre over the length of the drive. In anything other
than dry weather, car access is entertaining to say the least. The local
council has a dump of gravel not far from us, and it seems to me that one
night we could easily "acquire" enough gravel to lay two lengths of gravel
to aid vehicular access. My question is, should we dig out two parallel and
shallow "ditches" to take the gravel (and if so, how deep should they be?),
or just lay the gravel straight on to the grass and bed it in by driving a
car over it?

Many thanks,

Glenn




Having thought of this a little, it occours to me your drive may be
like my longer (1/3 of a mile) drive. When I got the house, it was
muddy, and we needed 4x4 to get up the drive. A day with an excavator,
and we scraped off the mud to reveal that some hundred or so years
ago, there was a solid rough stone track. With no extra treatment the
track can be driven along in all mut heavy snow or sheet ice.

In my case the mud washes off the fields onto the track, so new stone
would soon get filled with new mud. We remove the worst of the new mud
with the leaves once a year.

One thing I have discovered, is that solid stone and mud is bad, but mud
on gravel washes to the bottom. In practice mud on solid needs a yearly
clean. Mud on gravel will go for many years before it 'fills up' and
needs more gravel..

A lot depends on preference and what equipment you have to hand.

If you can pressure wash, solid is great.



Rick