There is currently a dirt road a half kilometer long to the property. It is mainly used by farm implements and gets muddy and rutted to where it can be impassable without 4WD and is slightly hilly. I would like to improve this road so that vehicles can ride through cleanly but not spend more than necessary since in 5 years it is expected to be paved. Are there any suggestions on the options out there to achieve this? This is in Thailand by the way though most techniques should transfer well I think.

We had a similar situation, an old logging road was the access to the building site. We used Typar and poured gravel on the cloth. Without the typar the gravel jusgt sinks into the mud. Many tons (like 100 or so) of rock for half a K of road, which is about how long our road is. Here in West Virginia we have freezing and thawing through the winter, but in Thailand you have monsoon, which has to be as bad as freeze and thaw for sinking road bed rock...

First you grade things level, lay the cloth, then run the road bed gravel onto it. I've seen folks carrying the roll behind the trucks wheels but staying in front of the dump point, so the rock falls on the cloth but the truck doesn't roll over it.

Canopy and JR in WV,

google: stabilization of road beds - some good info and links

try:     contech-cpi.com and ACF Environmental

JR - even better method is to lay the material down and back the dump truck as it spreads the load evenly on the material - a good dump truck driver should be able to do that very easily!

There are materials called "geogrids" and "geo matts" used for stabilization of road beds. Typar and Tyvek are somewhat similar to the specialty matt fabrics. Grids and matts are used for different situations. They come in rolls.

I have used both extensively and I can tell you they do work! Saves alot of stone (it usually pays for itself with the amount of stone you save).

I do not know a supplier for Thailand but the manufacturers send these materials all over the world. You should be able to find it locally without too much trouble.

I just used matt on my new driveway in NC - the dump truck driver who brought my stone was really reluctant to do the backing/dumping method (he was afraid his truck would destroy the fabric). His truck has 4 rear axles! Twenty two tons of stone. You should have seen him smile when all went perfect!

BTW I was in Thailand in 1968 - beautiful!!! Road in a jeepny bus (highly decorated) thru the swamps/forest/country on dirt roads from Saatihip (I know that spelling is wrong but that is too far back to remember sp.) to Bankcok. Fantastic boat rides in the canals!

Best of luck in your build!
Rich

Building roads suitable for year round use isn't cheap, especially in wet areas. First of all , you need to manage the water. Ditches are needed to direct the water away from the road bed and tiles/culverts as required under the low spots so the water can drain through the tile instead of through the roadbed. Next, a layer of very coarse crushed rock followed by a layer of finer crushed rock will provide a solid base for the road.

here is some pics of a road base to our house we did this summer, its 200ft long more of a driveway I guess. we put down some road fabric and about 1foot of 4" crushed concrete.

[url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/supernintendo/sets/72157620839610656/[/url]
[url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/supernintendo/sets/72157621670799101/[/url]

each truck load costs around 400 dollars so its starting to add up big time

I saw something on planet green about permeable roads that stored runoff water from your driveway into a tank/container that could later be used for watering your lawn/garden. Pricey, but think that would be a great long term investment.