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Road building

Ranch Hand

Active Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2009
Messages
33
Location
Houston
How can I determine what slope my truck can pull and the type of road to build?

Out on the ranch we have this hole in the ground that use to be a lake. My brother and I are trying to figure out the best way to get our equipment into the bottom of it so we can clear it out. Most of the sides have vertical walls so we’ll need to build a road down into it. So how do you go about figuring the slope of the road for the equipment that will be on it? I have a Peterbilt Cat C7 engine dump truck with a Easton 10 speed trans, I don’t know what the differential is. I was thinking of just a straight shot down into the bottom roughly 30 degree slope. Once the lake is cleared out we’d remove the road and replant the area. I figure we have a 1 year project here (we work slowly) regardless of the time my brother was thinking about bringing in road base and make an all weather road (he’s a retired engineer) the ground get spongy when it gets wet, but I’m thinking this is overkill and on the expensive side to construct. I haven’t seen many construction roads built with road base, but what do you all think?
 

Ranch Hand

Active Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2009
Messages
33
Location
Houston
There is a creek that runs year round through this area. So I was planning to put in a culvert in the creek then fill in around it and put the road on top. Most of the walls are about 15', but there is one place that I am looking at to enter the lake. This area is stair stepped over 40' for the 15'.
 
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