How much material would it take to cement a 1 mile driveway

Question

How much material would it take to cement a 1 mile driveway

I would like to know, in pounds, how much material it would take to cement a driveway, exactly 1 mile in length, how many pounds of sand, cement mixture and finally gravel//brick

I think it is 2 parts sand, to 1 part cement mix to 4 parts gravel, so 2 pounds of sand 1 pound of cement and four pounds of gravel, but I also do not know how much area that would cover, the road I'm also unsure how thick it should be, some people do 2 inches the real roads I think are poured 8-12 inches

Its about 10-12 foot in width, not many sharp turns, 2 which is the same turn actually. Two steep hills, one hill about a fifth of a mile couldn't tell on the angle.

An answer below has given me pretty much what I needed. The other thing, was that I read concrete mix could be halfed out for half its part in volcanic ash to make a mix that would last two to three times as long. I'm sorry it has taken me all day to come back and update this comment.

Answer 1

Wow, this is complicated. Good road design requires a good base and any turns require an added width due to a turning vehicle. (The added width at turns depends on the size of any anticipated vehicles.)

Let’s start with the basics. Let’s say it’s straight and it’s 10’ wide. Depending on soils conditions, I’d use a minimum of 6” gravel base. I like 3” minus crushed rock. So, for the base: 5,280 ft x 10’ wide x .5’ deep = 26,400 cu. ft. OR 26,400 cu. ft. / 27 = 978 cu. yards. You want it in lbs., so gravel can weigh about 2,800 lbs. per cubic yard...so 2800 x 978 = 2.7 mil. Lbs.

Now the concrete. I’d recommend a 4” minimum slab of 3,000 psi concrete. So, 5,280 x 10’ x .33 = 17,424 cu. ft. OR, 17,424 / 27 = 645 cu. yards.

There are lots of mix designs for 3,000 psi concrete. You should order it from the local concrete company because you’ll want air entrainment too.

Big job....next: Determine how many corners and if you’ll be driving over your base before you pour, because some of the will be pushed into the ground and you’ll need to “re-level” before you pour.