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Snow isn't really the issue, it's the several inches of loose gravel...you could park mid-way up my driveway, throw on the brakes, and I could push you back down it, by hand, all 4 tires sliding if I wanted to. Unless you're using tires with 3" spikes, that's just how it will go. FWD has no hope of getting up without slipping and running it up.
If you have a surface area with several inches of lose gravel? Are you talking about the loose gravel by the highways used to stop runaway tractor trailers? If that's the case, then I agree with you, for to drive in such a road would be impossible.
If you have a surface area with several inches of lose gravel? Are you talking about the loose gravel by the highways used to stop runaway tractor trailers? If that's the case, then I agree with you, for to drive in such a road would be impossible.
Its just gravel. I dont know where it was hauled from or anything. Looks like river gravel, a lot of it, with some other crushed type as well. Gravel and rock. Clearly seen on the video.
Its just gravel. I dont know where it was hauled from or anything. Looks like river gravel, a lot of it, with some other crushed type as well. Gravel and rock. Clearly seen on the video.
OK. Maybe yours was not constructed properly. During the spring when the snow melts, the dirt underneath the gravel tends to soften and turn into mud at the spots where there is not sufficient drainage. This is a very common occurrence in Alaska were we have lots of "dirt" roads. The only way for a dirt road not to soften is by having proper drainage. Once the snow melts or it rains hard, the water turns the layers of dirt underneath the gravel into mud.
As mentioned. Depends on where you use it. On the coast and when the beach rough. Awd systems are useless. I've seen countless ones stuck, some so bad when you open the door it drags the sand. I always kept a tow strap and a fold up shovel just for these types. Some locals that see these out of state folks stuck so bad, driving an Awd where they shouldnt be, just drive by. Awd and real 4x4 have there place.
OK. Maybe yours was not constructed properly. During the spring when the snow melts, the dirt underneath the gravel tends to soften and turn into mud at the spots where there is not sufficient drainage. This is a very common occurrence in Alaska were we have lots of "dirt" roads. The only way for a dirt road not to soften is by having proper drainage. Once the snow melts or it rains hard, the water turns the layers of dirt underneath the gravel into mud.
It's hard to construct a 300ft 27 % grade without concrete "properly". It never has mud. It's ROCK.
I might would say I'm astounded at how much people who have never set foot on it "know" about my own drive-way, but I work in the medical field, and I'm not.
It's hard to construct a 300ft 27 % grade without concrete "properly". It never has mud. It's ROCK.
I might would say I'm astounded at how much people who have never set foot on it "know" about my own drive-way, but I work in the medical field, and I'm not.
It is not hard to construct such a dirt road, but to do it properly is expensive, specially if you can't design it yourself, and also because of the amount of labor involved. A very important factor that must be taken into consideration, one that the average person doesn't know, is the inclusion of drainage channels in the base course so that when the snow melts or the rain falls, the water does not pool underneath, nor on top of the thin layer of compacted gravel. Without proper drainage, even an asphalt of concrete driveway fails within a few seasons. Asphalt won't take very long to develop alligator cracks and potholes when water penetrates or gets in the base course. The same plus worst is for roads where there is permafrost in the ground, which is the case in Alaska and Northern Canada. We call the bumps and dips "permafrost heaves."
By the way, asphalt driveways are rare outside of the towns in Alaska. Even the homes on the hills outlining Fairbanks have driveways that are made of dirt with about 5-6" of compared gravel on the surface. My first 10 years in the military I spent on the Civil Engineers Squadron and the roads an airfields construction (...including bridges, building foundations, and pavements and grounds).
It is not hard to construct such a dirt road, but to do it properly is expensive, specially if you can't design it yourself, and also because of the amount of labor involved. A very important factor that must be taken into consideration, one that the average person doesn't know, is the inclusion of drainage channels in the base course so that when the snow melts or the rain falls, the water does not pool underneath, nor on top of the thin layer of compacted gravel. Without proper drainage, even an asphalt of concrete driveway fails within a few seasons. Asphalt won't take very long to develop alligator cracks and potholes when water penetrates or gets in the base course. The same plus worst is for roads where there is permafrost in the ground, which is the case in Alaska and Northern Canada. We call the bumps and dips "permafrost heaves."
By the way, asphalt driveways are rare outside of the towns in Alaska. Even the homes on the hills outlining Fairbanks have driveways that are made of dirt with about 5-6" of compared gravel on the surface. My first 10 years in the military I spent on the Civil Engineers Squadron and the roads an airfields construction (...including bridges, building foundations, and pavements and grounds).
Water races DOWN it, cutting ruts.
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