Concrete drive

About 4 years ago, we had a gravel drive installed, which was in the region of 150mm of gravel rolled and re-rolled as various deliveries were made during the construction.

The drive would have been fine if it wasn't for the torrential rain that falls here from time to time.  Despite a membrane and weed killer, and top-dressing with more stone, little by little the drive was getting more and more loose, mud filled, weedy and difficult to ascend. 

Tarmac is only really used for public works, with a price to suit, so concrete was the only viable solution.

Shuttering in place

The local concrete company came over and said they thought 
that the truck would make the drive (19%)  in reverse, but they would have to pick a skillful driver.  So the concrete was ordered and the shuttering installed.  3 days, 90m of timber and 80 hand made beech pegs later, we were ready.

Ready to pour

The truck turned up 15 minutes early by French standards and 45 minutes late by British standards.  We knew the truck was on its way by the engine note from 4 km away being a cross between a motorbike and V8.  Yep, they'd definitely picked the fastest driver. 
When invited to walk the course, the driver took one look and said 'I've seen worse - no problem'  In one go he made it half way, stopping only to check that he wasn't about to crush the shuttering.  The vehicle wheel width is 2.5m, the shuttering at worst was 2.8m.  This truck, fully laden with 8m3 of concrete weighs in at around 25 tonnes and has 8 wheels on 2 axles at the rear, plus 4 wheel steering

26m out of 56m done.  Beer time

We started pouring at 3pm and the 4 of us were done by 4.30.  The driver pitched in from time to time and didn't seem keen to get away.  The driver dumped the concrete nice and slowly and then pulled clear to allow the next bay to be prepared.  Then he started to lose a bit of traction and managed to stall, but nothing too dramatic.  We were 'allowed' about 90 minutes unload time, but there was no pressure.  At 6pm I put tarpaulin over the drive, and it was possible to walk on it carefully.  It had already started cracking and pulling back from the shuttering.

Just need to prepare the next 26 metres, and do the same again.
Grade XF3, slump S3 with fibre.  10x10cm 2.4m x1.2m mesh laid down and pulled up during the pour. Control gaps by way of timber every 3.5m, but also to stop the concrete sliding down the slope.  This turned out to be essential on the steeper bits as the concrete mysteriously became more liquid half way through the pour.

On 3rd September, I ordered another 8m3 of the finest environmentally unsound concrete.
The driver was trying to beat his PB today.  He left the concrete plant 5 minutes earlier and arrived 10 minutes earlier.  However, his driving between the shuttering was not so good today.  Having removed 12m of shuttering to allow the vehicle access, the driver thought the best way of helping me put them back was then to run them over and increase the number of pieces.  All in all, the delivery was delayed and we were working for close to 2 hours, and the concrete was getting really hard to get out of the wagon, let alone move it on the ground.  (too much) water was added for the last bay of this pour, so again there is a slump on the expansion/control gap.
It was a warm day too, about 26C, so the concrete went off pretty quickly.
Attentive as ever, the driver forgot to check clearance on the overhead phone line, which is marginal.
The wagon was cleaned by dumping concrete in the road drain.
Just 6m to go to the road.


On 6th September the final pour was due, so I ordered another 2m3.
The gentle sound of the concrete wagon could be heard screaming across the valley; a 12 wheel skid is an impressive thing to behold just outside your house - no ABS then.  It's Friday and time to get onto the golf course.  2m3 of concrete was dumped as fast as it could be, but sadly, it was not enough.  Another 1m3 was requested, but was met with 'it's Friday' and the driver seemed to forget he had a company mobile.  After a slow drive back to the depot, he did finally ring and agree to bring the concrete.  This arrived and was dumped in double record time.  We had around 300l (about 700kg)  left, which I barrowed up to the house to make up some levels on paths.

So in total about 19m3 of concrete, or about 48 tonnes.

All done.  You can see about half the drive from the road

And the finished product, seen from the road a week later.  The post box has been moved to blend in with the other cream boxes on that side.

10/9/13.  The gates have been picked up.  Whilst I was unloading, the mayor and council turned up and announced I needed  a drain to stop the road being flooded as the water comes down the drive.  I then pointed at the drain I'd put in, plus the others at 10m intervals and the council asked if I could remove the gravel and pipe and replace this with a covered channel.  I didn't argue, as the rest of the drive doesn't strictly comply to code and they seemed keen to get away.  It's only taken 4 years for them to tell me I need a drain, so we'll see what I need in another 4 years.

As off 14th September, the new covered channels are in and look quite smart.  I'm not about to change the other 3 sets at the moment.

The gates will be installed about 12m back from the road, to allow me to park a car and trailer whilst I open the gates - not my idea, but one from the council.  If you click on the photo and enlarge it, you can see the start of the gate pillar on the left with a red pipe in front.

And being France, with trust and honour still largely intact, we have only received 1 of the 4 bills for the concrete, which we've paid.  I made contact today (17/9) with the firm to chase up the missing bills, in case they they were lost in the post.  Apparently they invoice monthly, so I've paid August's bill, and I'll have to wait a few weeks for the next batch.  
21/9.  Received the last 3 bills.  The nice people have only charged for 1 delivery.

Statistics
19m3 of concrete in 4 deliveries, laid in 3 sessions of 8/8/2+1m3
about 12 days prep
Drive is around 58m long by 2.9m +/-2cm wide.  Concrete company recommended 3m width to allow ideal truck access.  Original width was 2.75m
Total cost for concrete at €143,88/m3 x 19, plus one delivery charge (<6m3) €106.44 = €2840,16 (XF3 with fibre)
There would have been about 10% saving in buying the raw material and mixing at home, which would have taken months, and probably weaker.  19m3 is around 190 mixes in a standard electric mixer, plus having to stockpile about 30 tonnes of aggregate, and 7 tonnes of cement.
Shuttering.  Bought about 70m x 100mm (€60), but only used about 50m due to a change in plan.  However, all of it is being used for compost bins, edging or building up raised beds.
Drive slope. Originally calculated at 16%, but may have confused this with gradient. The angle from horizontal is 11 degrees from the road for around the first 50m. At this point the angle drops to around 6 degrees. In grade, 11 degrees is 19%, 6 degrees is 10%

The main conduit (40mm) from the house comes in very near the base of the control box/ 20mm conduit. The conduit that crosses the road (40mm) runs from the middle furthest outside edges. The ditch side runs to 2 x 20mm conduits, partly covered by soil. The control box side turns 90 degrees and runs around to the box side under the house conduit. Cables are a bit tight around that corner. The conduit if full of water.
The supply cable is 61m of CBP01360220 - CABLE U-1000 R2V 2X2,5MM2 NOIR. Earth is connected to a piece of rebar left exposed on the west side of west pillar.