Our family place is on the Silver Creek Ranch in Montell,Tx. We have owned it for about 30 years and over time the uphill ashaplt road has gotten really dangerous. Apparently about 15 years ago someone drove a bulldozer up it which chewed up the asphalt. Erosion and traffic have now created huge deep holes which are getting worse. The road is about 100 yards long at an uphill 45 degree angle. The two bad spots are about two feet deep and five feet wide. Even going up slow in 4 Low I managed to bend my running board frame this weekend. If I was to try and tackle this myself, what type of road base would be best to put in the holes? I was thinking of getting a yard or two in a couple of truck beds and hauling it up in wheelbarrows and 5 gallon buckets with some buddies. Backbreaking for sure! My concern would be doing all that work only to have it wash away when it rains. And for those of you who know....what would a ballpark estimate be to have it repaired with equipment? I don't think a Bobcat could do it but not sure. Anyone? Thanks!

Tough work for sure. I used to hunt there in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I think I can remember that section of road.

Need to concentrate on keeping water from draining too the road and washing it. Speed bumps? Divert water off of the road. Who knows what to fill it with, what is the dirt like? I would assumer rock/gravel.

A buddy of mine rolled old carpet over some of their roads like that to keep them from eroding.

My parents owned a few acres there years ago. I know the place you are talking about and it was bad 20 years ago.

Find a sale on sackrete and put the bags(don't open them or mix them) in the ruts. When it rains they will set up and not wash out like any fill you add in.

Since the road is asphalt then get some cold rolled asphalt and a plate compactor and fill the holes and compact them in good.

Walter

That's the best so far, but if you don't fix the base problem, you will have the same problem down the road. If you can get access to a vibratory tool (any rental) you can pack the base damn good. I would mix new road base and sackrete (dry mix) till about 4" under the blacktop. Ths will help beef up the road base. Then if your not close to an asphalt supply, you can buy the cold mix at Lowes for like $16 bag (kinda high compared to bulk). You would also be smart to buy a few gallons (at lowes) of the asphalt sealer and put that down on the base 1st and coat the asphalt edge as well, place and compact the asphalt. Goal is to keep all moisture out, that will create hydraulic action and it will happen again.

Is this place close to Weatherford? never mind, their is a plant West of Weatherford, for about $70 ton, surely there is a place in that part of the state too.

If it is a county road contact the commissioner for the area. If it has been in disrepair for some time the county can be found liable for damages. Just the threat of a lawsuit will probably be enough to get repairs done.

Asphalt will run you about $200 a ton placed (4" is what I would recommend), so 100 yards x 10' wide is around 15 grand. You need a good base for asphalt also which could cost more if none exist. Flex base will run you about 25-30 a ton, so about $2500 in your rock delivered and figure 10 buck a yard to grade and spread the rock, so your at 3 to 4 grand on top of your flex base. This all depends on where your at and how hard it is to access and where you can pull your materials from. I wouldn't do an asphalt road unless you have plenty of money and don't mind the upkeep. Get a couple of loads of flex base material and rent a tracked bobcat and make simple repairs yourself.

Well I checked and the road in question is Private Road 2750 in Uvalde Co. Just off of CR 415. Dang it! So much for the county picking up the tab...looks like we will have to tackle this ourselves. A lot of landowners no longer access their properties because the road is so dangerous. This really cuts down on the number of people out there as well as riff raff and poachers. But what good is owning land if you cannot access it? There are basically four landowners who have the vehicles capable of making the climb and we are tired of the stress that always occurs of not knowing weather you will make it up the hill. So more than likely after the hunting season we will need to get to work. Because of the cost and time invovled, I am positive we will only be fixing two or three bad holes which are five feet wide and two feet deep. These holes are at a 45 degree angle on a steep hill. So it sounds like the way to go is:

1. Fill the holes with a mixture of road base and quickrete. Should we wet it down at this point?
2. Pack the material down good with a plate compacter.
3. Apply a 4 inch layer of cold packed asphalt to the top and pack it down as well.
4. Apply a sealer coat to the asphalt

Is this correct?

You don't have to add a sealer coat to the new asphalt, if you use a sealer, put it under and on the sides to help the "new", attach/seal to the "old" and substrate (base).

Always good though to use a sealcoat every couple years to make it last longer ( on private roads/lots) Counties will often use a chip-seal on their roads.

Getting the base solid is the most important thing next to keeping water off the road. make sure your drainage is right on each side of you road.

If you have serious erosion issues, which sounds like you do, I wouldn't use any concrete base material for spot repairs. What will happen is you will keep chasing holes if you patch with concrete as on a road like this you will get infiltration around the concrete patch and just create more problems. I would use a flex base with very little "fines" in it and then patch with asphalt. It's not a permanent solution either, but its cheaper and easier to maintain. Neither option is a long term solution, don't believe me, drive around a metro area an take a look at all the asphalt repairs. Again, in this instance without redoing the entire road, cheaper is better.

Sounds like a good plan, as from what I got out of your reading your were just wanting to fix the bad spots which is why I said the cold roll. A plate compactor is going to be your best friend and you want to make sure to pack it really good.

Walter

Hey Rob, invite abunch of your friends up there to arrow head hunt and make each one bring you 10 bags of quickcrete.