Hive mind. One for you. I am going to run a water pipe from the house and it needs to cross a narrow tarmac drive (~2.4m). I can cut a clean line as I have a big cutter, I can dig out and lay the pip no problem. The issue I have is making good. Google just throws up cold set tarmac that sounds a bit of a bodge / temporary solution. Other idea is fill with concrete but I am not sure how durable that would be? Section of drive is driven over by car a van. I have no ideas where I could get hold of a small amount of tarmac scalpings? Any idea no how to make good this problem?
A mole horizontal drilling
If its a drive way you look at and it’s in good nick you’ll end up retarring it anyway
We had the mole go under our concrete drive and up the garden under the grass
Only had 10ft or so at the very top of the garden to dig as they didn’t want to risk hitting the foundations with the mole
Mole.
You could mole it, but they need a minimum of 800mm square hole for the machine to start and end, it may not be worth it giving the overall width.
Don't forget water pipes need to buried deep in the ground to avoid freezing, minimum depth of 750mm
Cold lay is absolutely fine, I used to have a tarmac drive and I patched several holes with it. Cut a clean line and thoroughly knock it down and it will go nowhere.
Used the cold lay Macadam bags from B&Q.
You need them warm to make the stuff workable, but a bin liner nad a sunny day is enough to heat it
you then tamp it down furoiusly with ever decreasing objects , we started with big long lumps of timber , but eneded up using club hammers
Needs a decent depth to stay set 3" at least , thn spray seal the edges with bitumin spray B&Q
You will always be able to see it, but if you put some effort in a long term repair is hard wearing .
Plus if you are laying a 25mm blue water pipe your cut can be narrow , maybe 300 if you use a trenching spade
You could mole it, but they need a minimum of 800mm square hole for the machine to start and end, it may not be worth it giving the overall width.
I wasn't sure of the required access hole but due to the start position I didn't think this was really viable due to access as on end is very close to house. Should have mentioned in OP. Good info thanks.
Don’t forget water pipes need to buried deep in the ground to avoid freezing, minimum depth of 750mm
Yep know about that one but its a good idea to reiterate / check.
Needs a decent depth to stay set 3″ at least , thn spray seal the edges with bitumin spray B&Q
You will always be able to see it, but if you put some effort in a long term repair is hard wearing .
Plus if you are laying a 25mm blue water pipe your cut can be narrow , maybe 300 if you use a trenching spade
Ok thanks good info. Will just have to give it a go I think! Thanks for the tips.
I've used the cold lay stuff to repair the access road to the sailing club which obviously get a lot of traffic from all the T5's, and lots of turning/reversing.
Get a good, heavy, tamper. About 5" square and 5kg. Make sure the edges of the hole are clean and then tamp it down untill your arms are knackered and you can't lift the tamper any more. You need the repair to be slightly raised from the surrounding drive so water doesn't pool on it and freeze.
It's not a bodge, it's what the council and utility companies use to make good holes in the road that don't warrant an entire truck of tarmac.
Make sure the edges of the hole are clean and then tamp it down untill your arms are knackered and you can’t lift the tamper any more
And then hit it some more!
And make sure the back fill under the cold-set is nice and compact too. When I did a small repair with it I put down layers of hardcore/limestone about 6 inches, compacted each time then a couple of thinner layers of cold set.
Much more effective than the council method of tipping a few buckets in and reverse over it with the van a couple of times. 😁
good tips thanks.
Screwfix do pot hole repair tarmac. 20kg buckets, we sell a fair few
Not actually used it myself though. You should be ok with the cold lay. As mentioned layer your back fill and tamp every 4 inch or so. I use a long length of 4 x 2 or fence post enough heft to settle long enough so ypu can work standing upright
It’s not a bodge, it’s what the council and utility companies use to make good holes in the road that don’t warrant an entire truck of tarmac.
Given the laughable patching which passes for reinstatement I wouldn't take what Utilities do as any sort of recommendation.
Given the laughable patching which passes for reinstatement I wouldn’t take what Utilities do as any sort of recommendation.
I chuckled too.
The many trucks they have laid on the road to and from my.house have already outlasted the cold lay repairs they repeatedly did on the same holes several times a year every year for the last 10 years.
And the tar from the trucks has only been there a month.
It's done because it's cheap . Nothing else
make sure you spray/paint tack coat on the cut existing tarmac surfaces before you lay the cold lay tarmac back. it will help it stick together and keep water out.
assuming your water pipe will be circa 600mm down (to stop it freezing)
hire and use a whacker plate to compact the backfill in 150mm layers it will be A LOT easier and quicker then hitting it with manual tampers. it will also compact better. lay sand/shingle around the pipe as needed and then you can use as-dug backfill in 150mm layers. lay at least 150mm type 1 under the tarmac and whacker the hell out of this. leave 75mm or so for the cold lay tarmac. whacker that also.
paint the joint with tack coat to try and keep water out - its the water ingress that causes damage (and potholes on roads)