New driveway lifting

Help...

I have a brand new driveway laid approx 5 months ago, and its starting to lift in one corner. I have a feeling this is caused by hydrostatic pressure but i dont know how to stop it or fix it?

The driveway runs towards the road and the corner that has lifted has run off as well so no water can sit. My soil is clay like every new sub divison, i'm hoping this swelling will stop or go back down.

I wouldn't worry if is was less than 10mm but would say it has risen about 25mm..

Any suggestions.. :(

Photo please.

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Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

Photo please.

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No worries, i'll have it up first thing tomorrow :)

A closeup picture, and a wide angle one, so we can see if there is a tree nearby . . :D

Tree roots wouldn't work that fast. More than likely expansive clay. A perimeter trench drain might be able to wick water away from under the driveway. Been very wet there recently? More worrisome would be your house foundation. How's it behaving?

Joe

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Originally Posted by joe greiner

Tree roots wouldn't work that fast. More than likely expansive clay. A perimeter trench drain might be able to wick water away from under the driveway. Been very wet there recently? More worrisome would be your house foundation. How's it behaving?

Joe

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Yeah it has been wet but not enough to worry about.

No trees anywhere..:no:

House foundations are ok but now you mention it i did see a small crack in the brick work mortor as it is painted and shows up, about the length of two bricks.

Tried to take picture this morning but bucketed down when i grabed the camera, i'll try this arvo.

Pic's

No Tree's,

Nicely finished driveway. Surprised by the amount of lift. When you find out the cause please post here as I would be interested to know the cause. Good luck.

When I laid my new driveway I had to drill the footpath for reo bars to tie the two together, I suggest the lack of them may be the problem.

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Originally Posted by KevM

When I laid my new driveway I had to drill the footpath for reo bars to tie the two together, I suggest the lack of them may be the problem.

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what has perplexed me is that it has no ponding or area to stop and hold the water.

I wonder if your driveway is really lifting. Could be the gutter (too narrow for a footpath, I think) is settling instead. What are the ages of the other components? Road pavement and gutter, that is. Gutters don't usually get much subgrade preparation; and narrow footprint gives it less resistance to wheel loads. Like KevM said, keying driveway to gutter would avoid differential movement.

Joe

I cant see how the drive could lift like that without cracking and I cant see a crack. If the saw-cut control joint still is the original width then I suspect that Joe may be right about the curb sinking.
Follow the curb down until you find the next joint if you have a height difference you have solved the puzzle and then its the council's problem

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Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

I cant see how the drive could lift like that without cracking and I cant see a crack. If the saw-cut control joint still is the original width then I suspect that Joe may be right about the curb sinking.
Follow the curb down until you find the next joint if you have a height difference you have solved the puzzle and then its the council's problem

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I thought it might be possible that the gutter & road sunk because of the control cut in the gutter half way is slightly wider than normal.

The control joint in the driveway is fine and as you can see there is no crack on the driveway as well.:2tsup:

great photos.
I would think that you probably have a problem with a swelling of the clay underneath the pavement. From the appearance of the green grass, the ground is getting plenty of water. I suspect the road is fine since it would of been formed on a good granular subgrade.
Naturally given the slope of your site, the right hand corner of the site should be getting more water. As stated somewhere above, you may consider adding some decent drainage in this corner and diverting water to somewhere like a breakout in the curb or just move it further along behind the curb. All the rainfall on the driveway is probably going straight down the drive and into the abelflex joint, then travelling to the right side of the driveway. Maybe you could also dig out the abelflex and put in a flexible sealant joint.
I also might be clutching at straws here, but when I look at that photo with the perspective looking down the drive toward the road, right in the corner near the problem, the grass looks greener.

Dean

How did you go with the driveway mate.........

One way to work out if the gutter or driveway was moving would be to moniter them by taking some basic levels on them.

You can get fairly cheap laser type levels from bunnings, go-lo etc these days.

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Originally Posted by Purpleheart

How did you go with the driveway mate.........

One way to work out if the gutter or driveway was moving would be to moniter them by taking some basic levels on them.

You can get fairly cheap laser type levels from bunnings, go-lo etc these days.

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It's still the same height at the moment but Deanom's theory's have placed a bit of light on this problem.

The run off from the driveway going to the abelflex which would divert the water to the right hand corner and making the grass greener.

Also my storm water outlet is about 2m from that right hand corner so i suspect there might be a leak around that area.....but is down hill?:?

I will monitor it when it hasnt rained for awhile and see if any reduction in height occurs. I have a feeling it wont drop unless something heavy drives on it. :U

I agree with purpleheart on monitoring the levels but for my 2c I suspect the water from the lawn on the high side is keeping the lower side under the drive saturated. Solution, AG drains on both sides.

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Don't force it, use a bigger hammer.