Geocell Driveway 1 Year Update: Good, Bad & Ugly

Evaluating our geocell driveway install 1 year later to see how it held up and if it was a good investment. If you want to fix your gravel driveway, take a look at how our solution worked out and learn from us!

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[philmccole]

My driveway here in southern Vermont is 800' downhill with three big turns. For two years I battled washouts every time it rained really hard. I finally dug drain trenches, lined them with trap rock, and built a crown in the driveway so the water would run off into the ditches, and so far (fingers crossed) it's working.

[MyTractorGuy]

Great video. Those geocells definitely help keep material in place. The trenching that gives the water somewhere to go will keep your drive in top shape. Y'all did an awesome job both building the drive and educating people on it. 👍

[DonDegidio]

Hi Amy and Bryan,
Nice keeping us up to date on the driveway. Was wondering how the geocell was going to hold up. I think if you ditch along the right side of the driveway down to the culvert and fill with 3/4" clean stone, that will keep the water from flowing across the driveway. The moose at the beginning was an extra treat. You both stay safe.

[gonzalosanabria]

Have exact situation as you guys and 40 degree slope. Graveled and paving initially but helots of raining @ 5, 000 feet turns driveway into a raging stream. So I went to the top of driveway and about 20’ further and used my tractor-loader-backhoe to do a flow diversion sideways into a ditch and built up a rocky berm and it fixed it

[rowgler]

If you used a bond beam as a border for short sections of problem areas that might solve your problem. A bond beam is when standard 8x8x16 concrete blocks are layed in a line (dug in so the top is level to where the gravel surface wants to be), then two cuts are made with a diamond blade in a circular saw. Knock out the top of the webbing, place rebar in the channel and fill the cores with concrete. It's a technique originally used to create beams in block buildings over windows and door openings. I used it when building our koi pond to create a perfectly level perimeter around the pond. Rebar driven down into the ground anchors the bond beam so it can't shift.

[changuito]

The geocell is working just fine. It's keeping the aggregate in its place within the cells, and maintaining the aggregate interlocking to help absorb shear forces through the pavement structure. That's the purpose and function of your geocell layer.
In flat straight sections the loads are mostly vertical, so the structure will suffer minor degradation, but in curved and sloped sections, lateral forces due to inertial components and due to vehicle traction and breaking become relevant. If your mix does not have a cohessive mateix, it will get scrapped off the surface, exposing the edge of the geocell.
Those areas need more maintenance or a superficial stabilizer.
Water running along the intern of the curve will at some point, depending on the velocity and volume, tend to continue flowing straight and runoff will overtop the pavement, contributing to the degradation. You should consider insert some energy atenuators (rocks or stakes) along the ditch, and move it away from the edge of the pavement.

[bythebay]

Thanks for the updates on the geo grid. The dirt work, tractor time and snow removal updates are my favorite part of your channel. Hope you got to bring that John Deere excavator home from VT (0:29). Thanks for all the videos!

[gordonweber]

Thank you, I've enjoyed learning from your experience. Much appreciated.

[markpashia]

Yup, keeping the water OFF the drive is key, so ditches beside the roadway is a must. Plus now is the time to add more of that select mix to the drive to build it higher and bury that geocell. Just dragging the wash down back up is maintenance but the very fine binders have gone so fresh mix especially over the geocell is needed. The joys of gravel drives! Never ending work. Once it is fully stable, you could pave it and make it more maintenance free but no point until then. You might want to aim for a slight crown from the center of the drive to the edges and ditches. Water running straight down a drive gains speed and power for erosion. The key is get it off the drive in the shortest route so it never gets that power to begin with. This is the biggest failure of gravel drives when you do not maintain them and get tire ruts that channel the water straight down the driving paths. Good luck this winter.

[strangemusic]

Beautiful property!... thanks for the record of your geo road!... I live next to a river an have been researching ways to keep my driveway intact when flooding happens its been quite the experience living on a river...

[TheMonkdad]

With that view it’s hard to even look down at your driveway. It’s so beautiful.

[nightrunner]

Thanks, so much, I'm planning a laid out of a project, soon. This is still real nice!

[osxuqih]

You have a beautiful place! Sorry you have had problems. You have put lots of hard work into things and budgeted and spent lots of money. A really sickening feeling to see those resources wash away. Driveways are like that. You took lots of precautions. Time to just continue moving material back. Before long it will take hold so you can find the next great problem to attack. Best wishes!

[FranciscoPDalo]

After watching the video, I realized how geocells can last longer for less money compared to other traditional methods of construction. However, finding the right geocell provider can be a challenge. But thanks to this video, I came across Backyard Bases, a geocell provider that offers quality products at affordable prices. I'm planning to give them a try for my driveway stabilization project. It's amazing to see how much money I can save by using geocells.

[covidvirus]

Appreciate update.. in Australia we call this gravel Road Base I was considering using 20 mm sized gravel (for better drainage)or Road Base which compacts better. Good advice with fines all washing away.

[Thedumbgenius]

Grew up in Panama, and practically lived at the riding stables. We had 6 months of rain every day nearly all day long, to stop flooding of the stables stalls I spent hours and hours digging trenches leading into ditches leading into the 3rd Cut. All that trenching by shovel and machete as a kid gave me a strong back. lol All to say drainage is vital in heavy downpours.

[lorallamb]

Give bagel a treat, he was trying so hard to do his job!!

[roxannecarson]

I had no idea Geocell existed. Thanks for this video. We may look into this as an idea to keep gravel in place. We have sloped driveway. Love seeing the Moose as well.

[changuito]

For those who may need to fix localized areas (steep slopes, at grade undrained farm driveways, curves), that sustain progressive erosion and instability, and don't want to spend on geocell products, the same can be done with used car tires, that can be collected from car service shops, disposal facilities, or ordered at a very cheap price.
All its needed is to remove the shoulders and lay them on the graded road surface, next to each other, like geocells. Then they are filled with gravel base. I recommen that the layer on top of the tire cells (the wearing course), has a finer matrix, so it is more cohessive and can endure the effect of traffic. If clean crushed gravel is used, it will rut and erode.
The best material for that purpose is known as Dense Grade Aggregate or DGA.
There are lots of videos showibg how used tires can be used to stabilize low volume roads.

[Moto]

Central Vermont here, looks like it's holding up good. My son and I do driveway work. Rent a mini excavator and do some uphill side ditching, on long runs you might have to put in a plastic culvert pipe in to divert the water to the downhill side. Add some material to the drive to crown it up a bit. Rent a small dual drum vibratory roller and compact the new material. I know this can add up$$, but in the long run you will save on future maintenance!