I have a 350 foot concrete driveway. I'm wishing it was gravel or it soon might be. I've previously built a pool where the builders could protect my driveway from heavy equipment, most notably the cement mixer. But a 350 foot driveway seems impossible to protect. I'm thinking a vinyl pool might be my answer. I have 2 acres of flat land in my backyard. I think I could potentially leave the excavated dirt on my property which could then be re-graded eliminating the need for dump trucks. Does anybody have experience with my situation? Thank you.
Long Concrete Driveway
- Thread starter rkolb
- Start date
- May 7, 2014
- 429
- Pool Size
- 29980
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Vinyl liner pools still require concrete for the bond beam and you are still going to need heavy equipment to dig the hole. It's cheaper and easier to repair the yard/grass. Would it be possible for the heavy stuff drive beside the driveway? If they can even drive part way in the grass you could rent an concrete pumper truck to pump it the rest of the way. I used a pumper truck for the bond beam and the decking on my vinyl liner pool.
Other option is a fiberglass pool. You still have excavation issues, and depending on size of the fiberglass pool, the hoist/crane could be a large piece of equipment.
A forest borders the driveway on both sides. I looked up the average weight of an excavator and it's 60,000 pounds. It hurts that I have 2 acres of grass in the backyard , easy access down my driveway, but heavy equipment could be too costly if I have to replace major portions of a 350 foot driveway. Endless pools weigh 3000 pounds and can be delivered on relatively small trucks. I think I'm a candidate.
I was surprised at how little fiberglass pools weigh, 30 foot pool would be about 3000 pounds. I don't need a crane, just a flatbed that isn't too heavy.
Another thought. While for a stupid long bike ride during the lockdowns, we stumbled upon a steel wall vinyl build that had no access for the cemet truck. They had a special bucket on a bobcat that looked like a 5-7 yard dumpster and they ferried that back and forth to dump the collar.
We would have already replaced my asphalt driveway but are waiting for the pool to go in first. When I asked my PB how bad they would tear it up, he said that the concrete company would make a judgment call on the pour day and let me know how bad they expected to damage the driveway. (If any). I'd call a company or 2 and have them come out and give you options/bids like you were doing an owner build. They'll know what's possible and how much it will add to the regular cost to use special machinery. With the cost of gunite builds, I wouldn't let $3k- $5k (?) change a $75k-$100k build.
Unless you wanted to really go vinyl in the first place. Then by all means.
Also, while cheaper, steel wall pools aren't exactly cheap. I'd look into resin wall / vinly also of you're going that route.
We would have already replaced my asphalt driveway but are waiting for the pool to go in first. When I asked my PB how bad they would tear it up, he said that the concrete company would make a judgment call on the pour day and let me know how bad they expected to damage the driveway. (If any). I'd call a company or 2 and have them come out and give you options/bids like you were doing an owner build. They'll know what's possible and how much it will add to the regular cost to use special machinery. With the cost of gunite builds, I wouldn't let $3k- $5k (?) change a $75k-$100k build.
Unless you wanted to really go vinyl in the first place. Then by all means.
Also, while cheaper, steel wall pools aren't exactly cheap. I'd look into resin wall / vinly also of you're going that route.
Build a liner pool and just pump the concrete in or buggy it with a loader. The excavator is no problem a 315 will dig any pool at 30k pounds and can walk down the driveway on plywood without cracking it. Do it all the time. The tracks spread the weight out and has a low pounds per SQ inch in reality
Bill1974
Well-known member
There is going to be a bit of traffic on your driveway for a pool (and surrounding hardscaping and landscaping) to be put in. Getting an excavator back there and a skid steer are the least of the challenges. A 350ft driveway, no one is going to want to park their trucks/vehicles on the street and walk back there to work. I would say my yard was less messed up by the concrete trucks than the 6 wheel trucks used to haul out debris and haul in materials. Do you have any idea how your driveway was constructed? You may be able to have the concrete trucks only bring a 3/4 load and just have more loads to keep the weight down a bit. Other options are to buggy it from the street to back yard. Is the driveway finished in a way that if sections were repairs it would look off?