How to Build Rock Driveway Entries

Driveway

• 1

  Calculate the slope of the driveway entry so that it moves toward the street at 1/4 inch per foot. Ensure there is ample street drainage to move water away from the driveway entrance.

• 2

  Check the soil to ensure it sheds, rather than retains water. Watch the driveway entry during inclement weather to note water flow.

• 3

  Grade the driveway entrance to match the slope of the driveway and meet the street. Hire a grader to complete this step or alternatively rent the tractor to do it yourself. Lower the tractor blade onto the ground and move forward and backwards until the desired slope takes shape for the driveway entrance.

• 4

  Add a geotextile fabric to the surface of the driveway entrance. Have a friend help roll out the fabric in sheets. Lay two sheets of fabric on the driveway entrance if it is wider than the fabric rolls. Cover all exposed dirt.

• 5

  Spread a layer of road base, or 3-inch sized jagged pieces of rock over the fabric. The truck that delivers the rock spreads the rock as it drives over the entrance.

• 6

  Pull a metal garden rake over the road base to spread the rock over the entire driveway entrance. Compact with a mechanical roller.

• 7

  Add additional layers of gravel, as needed, ensuring that each layer added consists of rocks or gravel smaller than the layer before it. Compact the layer with a mechanical roller after each placement.

Columns

• 8

  Dig a footing approximately 3 feet square and 6 inches deep adjacent to the narrowest portion of the driveway entrance. Approximately 1 1/2 feet in from each corner of the dug footing, add four pieces of rebar 3 1/2 feet tall. Pound them into the ground with a hammer and use a level to ensure they are vertically straight. The four rebar will sit inside the form and help to keep the column in place.

• 9

  Build a form out of plywood. Make the form 2-by-2 foot square and 48 inches tall. Cut a sheet of 1 inch plywood into four strips, each 2 foot wide and 4 feet long. Cut one sheet of plywood in half across its width, and then cut in half again to provide the needed 4-foot long strips. Set the four pieces of plywood 1 foot in from the edge of the footing. Nail the edges together to form a square. Add batten boards at one foot intervals to help support the column.

• 10

  Cut the 1-by-2-inch boards into lengths that fit snugly around the form. Nail each of the four 1-by-2-inch batten boards around the form to each other to hold it in place. Place them at 1 foot intervals around the form. Add a woven tie-down strap around the base, the middle and the top of the column with a locking clasp and secure tightly for added strength and holding power.

• 11

  Place rocks inside the form until approximately half-full. Set them inside the form around the rebar. Ensure rocks lay snugly against the inside face of the form.

• 12

  Mix concrete in the wheelbarrow as per the instructions on the concrete bag and pour or shovel into the form and the footing. Add rock and concrete until the form is full. Use a stick to tamp the concrete and ensure it fills in all the spaces between the rock. Level the top of the form with concrete for a flat surface.

• 13

  Repeat on the other side of the driveway for the second rock column at the driveway entrance.

• 14

  Let the concrete dry 48 hours before removing the form. Cover the footing with dirt to have the column appear to rise out of the ground.

• 15

  Use leftover creek rock to form a border alongside the driveway edge.