Geotextile Fabric. yay or nay?

[jeepn-jason]

I know there are a few of you guys on here that have done grading, road building etc. I have some land that we have cleared and had a road built on. The road is around 750' long with about 100' of it a built up swag. What is the consensus on using geotextile fabric under the rock? I get conflicting answers weather i should use it or not. What ya say nc4x4? yay or nay?

 

[jcramsey]

I’m no expert but we put down some geotextile fabric in a few spots when clearing out/grading my driveway. Had one place in particular that was pretty mucky and would get nasty when it rained. It’s held up really well with fabric under it for the last two years.

 

[skyhighZJ]

I think a big thing is traffic load and are there hills? The fabric I’ve seen on hills didn’t work as well compared to the compartmentalized underlayment to hold the aggregate from shifting down the hill caused by wheel spin.

 

[GONOVRIT]

I’ve got around 1300’ feet of gravel down, didn’t use the fabric and haven’t regretted it. I think there’s many variables at play as to if it would be worth it for different people and situations.

 

[braxton357]

I think a big thing is traffic load and are there hills? The fabric I’ve seen on hills didn’t work as well compared to the compartmentalized underlayment to hold the aggregate from shifting down the hill caused by wheel spin.

In my experience and opinion, the ideal road would be a solid base of small rip rap whatever your local quarry calls it with 8-12" of abc on top. If that's not possible then fabric does help your stone from disappearing into the earth and you can get away with using less rock--if you have shit drainage though it will still silt up and disappear. And like the truck driver said, I don't use fabric on hills. They do make other geotextile grids for that though.

 

[skyhighZJ]

In my experience and opinion, the ideal road would be a solid base of small rip rap whatever your local quarry calls it with 8-12" of abc on top. If that's not possible then fabric does help your stone from disappearing into the earth and you can get away with using less rock--if you have shit drainage though it will still silt up and disappear. And like the truck driver said, I don't use fabric on hills. They do make other geotextile grids for that though.

I guess that’s what I was saying by traffic load. Introduced soils from a lot of traffic will produce silt and soil build up in the rock base that disturbs water runoff.

 

[Shreddinlettuce]

Depends on thickness of the rocks are too thin it will show through quick. Look up geocell it’s a way better solution yj reducing anmount of rock needed

 

[R Q]

I know there are a few of you guys on here that have done grading, road building etc. I have some land that we have cleared and had a road built on. The road is around 750' long with about 100' of it a built up swag. What is the consensus on using geotextile fabric under the rock? I get conflicting answers weather i should use it or not. What ya say nc4x4? yay or nay?

Under several inches of crushed stone with the base prepped just as well, sure it's great. It's not going to fix a bad situation. Create good ditches on each side, make good drainage away from and under the road, and you don't need it. If you're going to put 3" of stone on it and not add and maintain that, don't bother.

 

[StretchASU]

It all depends on soil and drainage IMO.

I’ve got a spot that stays super wet going into a barn and the general consensus is what Braxton is talking about. Rip Rap to give a solid base with good drainage to not wash away the ABC and some new ditches cut on either side to direct the water. But if there is good compaction and a solid base to begin with that stays relatively dry, throw the ABC down and send it.