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I removed some trees and now widening my driveway as illustrated in the image below. Not sure how to proceed because I'm stuck on the following questions:

  1. What type of driveway is it? Dirt? Crushed blacktop? One thing I'm pretty sure of is that there must be a layer of crushed stone or gravel underneath because my driveway has been quite stable.
  2. If I widen the driveway, do I have to change the crowning from the solid blue line to the dashed blue line or can the high point remain where it is?
  3. Can what I'm trying to do be accomplished by adding material (i.e. 3/4" crushed stone + something finer - if so, what?) on the right. What I'm trying to avoid is a major digging project which achieving a consistent look across the width of the driveway. enter image description here
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    It looks like a gravel/crushed stone driveway, but there are some light-brown patches that look like dirt, too. If you're there and can't tell, just imagine how hard it's going to be to tell from a single picture. – FreeMan Sep 14 '20 at 15:58
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It looks from the photo like this is a crushed gravel drive that hasn't been "refreshed" in a few years. I have a similar drive and I have "eights with dust" or #8 gravel delivered. You can ask the materials company what they recommend but around here (Central Indiana USA) most gravel drives use this.

Crowning is not as important on a drive as it is on a public roadway but you may want to adjust the overall crown for the new width to help with drainage.

You also need to consider the base for the new section. Eights are used as a top layer. It's common to use "threes" or #3 crushed gravel for the base. I'd apply the #3 on the new section and let it settle and be driven on for a few weeks. Then apply a top layer of #8.

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  • Thanks! In order to apply #3, should I begin by digging 5" down? – Wynne Sep 14 '20 at 17:19
  • That would help even things out. – jwh20 Sep 14 '20 at 17:23

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