Excavating a driveway near New Bethlehem, PA

One of our clients was looking to fix a gravel driveway through a steep, partially wooded area. There are no other access roads available to the client’s property, and they want to have a driveway that is useable year-round.

In our initial meeting, we asked the client a question that we ask regularly to all our clients:

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE WORST?

Most people do not think about getting an ambulance or emergency crew on their driveway until it is too late. We recently saw a garage burn down in our neighborhood in the last few years during the winter. The firetruck came out quickly, but was stopped by the snowy, icy roads. The township came out to try and fix the road. Guess what? THEY GOT STUCK TOO.

People do not tend to think about this until it’s their garage burning down, and they are sitting in the fire truck a few hundred feet away, helplessly watching it happen.

Now, to be fair, this is a worst-case scenario. We aren’t in the habit of going around scaring our clients. But we do encourage them to consider the possibilities:

-How often do you use the camp? Do you use it for hunting in the fall? Snow can easily come in early October in Western Pennsylvania.

QUESTIONS WE ASK WHEN BUILDING A DRIVEWAY:

-Do you have anyone on the property with health issues?

-Does visibility matter to you? Many people would prefer their camp be barely identifiable from the road. Others want it to be clearly visible all four seasons of the year.

-Could you or your family members walk on the driveway in icy or muddy conditions? A little mud is one thing, a quagmire is another.

-Can you turn around in your driveway at key points, or if you get stuck, will you have to back up awkwardly around turns or up a hill?

-Is it easy to brake on your driveway in icy or snowy conditions?

This client decided to solve all their driveway problems. Their drive had several muddy patches that held water. We were able to solve this by putting in several crosspipes, changing the grade, and adding rock so the road drained properly.

Their driveway was a very steep, almost 180 degree turn up a hill. To fix this we changed the grade, took down several trees blocking visibility, and created a sloped, gentler entrance much wider than before.

Before

During

At the end of their driveway, there was a deep, rutted, narrow muddy path with poor visibility. Talk about the worst of all possibilities! Driving on this bad of a driveway made our teeth rattle. It was impossible to see if anyone was coming, and it was impossible to back up and turn around if you got stuck. To solve this, we widened the drive, rocked it in, added several crosspipes to prevent rutting and washouts, and changed the grade. Instead of a low road, we added rock to raise it up and voila— visibility problems solved!

Check out our gallery below and let us know what you think! We were thrilled to be able to solve this many problems for this client. Their camp experience is much improved and easier to use!

Are you looking for an excavation contractor to fix your driveway in Clarion, Jefferson, Armstrong, Forest, or Venango County? Give us a call today at 814-221-7424 to get a consultation!