Kitchen Garden Forum

Has anyone on the forum had anything to do with repairing the road/track on their allotment? I have got the task of repairing the main track on ours it has a lot of potholes and is really sludgy when it,s wet, I am not sure what aggregate to use as i have never done it before. Has anyone got any ideas or done the job, any info. would be welcome . thanks jeff.

I used to work on building sites/motorways and seen many roads built, what machines do you have at your disposal, you will need a vibrating roller the heavier the better ,if the roller is a heavy one you can roll any size aggregate to dust , if no machinery at your disposal then start off with 10 mm to dust then put a layer of 25mm to dust run it in using people's cars , the idea of fine dust first is to stop weeds growing through the finished job

Thanks for the input robo,no plant as yet but was hoping to hire a JCB for 3 or 4 hrs, robo, we did the car park with small crush and run a couple of years ago and thats nearly disappeared so would think it needs something a bit heavier trouble is we hav,nt got a big budget but thanks for the input anyway

Can't you buy recycled tarmac

I'm not an expert. What are you starting from? The key to any track based on just gravel type infills is firm edges so traffic doesn't squeeze it sideways. Scalpings from preparing roads for re-surfacing are often economical, finish them off with something finer. Vibration is the key to good consolidation, perhaps hire one of those vibrating plate devices.
See if you can get some advice from a Council worker that fills potholes then do the opposite, they have no idea!

Needs a deeper hole dug, but hardcore blinded with crush then vibrated will get found a more resistant surface. Bur as Geoff says, edge control is vital, timber will rot, my local council did a tarmac 2.5m cycle/foot path and edged it with steel strip.

Geoff and Peter sorry i am late getting back to you,making the sides secure makes a lot of sense thanks to you both for the advise.