Gravel Driveways & Culverts in Knoxville, TN

Gravel driveways and culverts are a big part of rural and edge-of-town excavation around Knoxville. Long drives up to houses on a ridge, new drives to a building site, and old drives that wash out every spring all need the same things: a firm base, a crown or cross slope that sheds water, ditches along the sides, and culvert pipes where water has to cross under.

Base first

Gravel laid straight onto red clay turns to mud. A durable drive starts with stripping topsoil, shaping and compacting the subgrade, and placing a base of crusher run or crushed stone. HomeGuide recommends a total depth of at least five to six inches, typically a three- to four-inch base topped with two to three inches of surface stone, and eight to twelve inches where trucks or RVs will use it. Where the clay is very soft, fabric between the subgrade and the stone keeps the base from sinking.

Shaping for water

On a sloped lot the biggest threat to a gravel drive is water running down it. We crown the drive or tilt it toward a ditch, cut ditches where they are needed and add turnouts or water bars on steep sections so runoff leaves the driveway before it builds up speed. That keeps the stone where we put it.

Culverts

Where a drive crosses a roadside ditch or a drainage swale, a culvert pipe carries the water underneath. The pipe needs the right size, enough cover to carry loads, and stable ends so water does not scour around it. Connections to a public road ditch often need approval from the city, county or the Tennessee Department of Transportation, depending on who owns the road. We check before setting the pipe. HomeGuide lists culverts or drains at $500 to $2,000.

Rebuilding an old drive

Many older gravel drives in Knox County have lost their crown and turned into ruts. We regrade, add stone where it is thin and restore the ditches. Sometimes that is enough. When the base has failed, we rebuild it.

Cost

HomeGuide puts gravel driveways at $4 to $10 per square foot installed, about $4,000 to $10,000 for a 1,000-square-foot drive. Grading adds $1 to $3 per square foot, and sloped sites can raise labor 20 to 50 percent. Crusher run delivered runs about $25 to $50 per ton.