Construction Of Paths In The Country - 2

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

BUILD A TRACK YOURSELF …

What paths and paths will help make life in the country convenient

Part 1 - planning garden paths, sand and concrete paths

Slab paths

Concrete slab tracks are very strong and durable. The same sand serves as the basis for such a path. Plates can be laid either in a continuous row or with gaps between them of 4-6 cm. Plates, if desired, can be made without much difficulty directly in the country. For this, it is necessary to make wooden or metal collapsible forms for several plates at once. Slabs can be made directly on the ground, having prepared a site in advance.

To do this, it is necessary to remove the vegetation cover, tamp the soil and fill it with sifted sand in a layer of 1 cm. After that, the forms are placed on the sand and filled with concrete mass. You can again make more durable slabs by reinforcing them with metal mesh and reinforcement. When the concrete mass has set, the mold can be disassembled and placed in a different location to make the next slabs.

Most often, slabs with dimensions of 50x50 cm are used for the construction of roads and paths, although it must be admitted that paths made of slabs of various sizes look much more interesting and elegant. For this purpose, it is possible to make slabs with dimensions of 20x40, 40x40, 40x60, 40x80. In addition, both smooth and patterned boards can be used (see Fig. 4).

Another variant of the form for making slabs is the use of an ordinary hoop from any wooden barrel. The hoop can be given any shape (see Fig. 5), including the one imitating a natural stone. This shape can be infinitely varied, resulting in a track of any configuration. When making slabs, multi-colored parts of tiles, decorative glass, figured pebbles, pieces of granite and marble, fragments of mosaic products can be pressed into their front part.

After preparing the base for the track (remove the soil, tamp it), coarse gravel is laid on the bottom, leveled and tamped. On top of it, fine gravel is laid with a layer of at least 6 cm, which is also leveled and compacted. A layer of about 5 cm of "skinny" concrete (1 part of cement and 6 parts of sand) of plastic consistency is laid on the gravel.

Slabs are laid on concrete so that the gaps between them are minimal. To achieve the required evenness, the plates are laid along a stretched cord, which is used to check the correct laying. It is also necessary to use a level to give the path the necessary slope to prevent the formation of puddles on it. Each slab must be tapped with a hammer so that it adheres to the base with its entire surface. However, this should only be done through the board. The gaps between the slabs are filled with cement mortar.

If it is supposed to use the path not very intensively, then instead of a stone base it is permissible to use a sandy one. That is, lay the slabs on a sandy base. If any slab moves during operation, it can be lifted, sand added and put in place.

In addition to tracks made of concrete slabs, tracks can be constructed with in - situ concrete cover. They are practical and durable. It is advisable to arrange them with a curvilinear outline or double-track design for an automobile track. The depth of the foundation of the footpath is 8-10 cm, the road is 40-50 cm (see Fig. 6).

After marking along the edges of the dug ditch, a wooden formwork is installed so that its upper edge protrudes from the ground by 3-6 cm. After that, the base in the formwork is leveled, tamped, abundantly moistened with water and poured with concrete with a ratio of cement, sand and gravel 1: 1.6: 3. The depth of the laying can be significantly reduced if metal reinforcement is previously inserted into the concrete monolith: old pipes, various steel profiles, strips, rods, nails … When moisture evaporates from the concrete surface, a pattern can be applied, usually imitating tiles or natural stone of irregular shape. An interesting pattern - circles, wavy lines - can be made with prints, for example, of a tin can or pieces of wavy asbophane. A rough surface can be obtained with a regular brush.

Stone paths

In addition to concrete paths, stone paths are often built. They are of two types:

Natural stone path. For a path made of such material, small stones of more or less regular shape are needed. Large stones should be split as they are difficult to move. To prepare the base, it is necessary to remove the soil, but it is not necessary to tamp it. Large stones are stacked at the edges, and small stones in the middle. In this case, the gaps between them are filled as tightly as possible. The stones should be adjusted so that they are as close to each other as possible. Each stone must be driven into the ground with a heavy rammer, and the remaining gaps between them must be covered with gravel, sand or concrete mortar.

A path using chipped cobblestone, rubble or flat hewn stone. Such paths (see Fig. 7) are arranged on a sandy base. They are filled with concrete mortar to the level of the upper surface of the stones or slightly higher (for better water drainage from the pathway). By selecting stones of different sizes and various mutual laying, you can achieve their mosaic arrangement, thereby achieving a great decorative and artistic effect (see Fig. 8).

The paths made of burnt red brick are very beautiful, quite strong (see Fig. 9). For this purpose, moisture resistant brick is most suitable. Bricks can be laid flat and on edge (see Fig. 10 and 11). As a base, coarse-grained sand is poured with a layer of 10-15 cm and leveled so that a bulge forms in the middle, then moisten it with water and lay bricks according to a pre-selected scheme.

Along the edges of the path to form a curb, the bricks are laid on the edge. A brick covering, laid on sand, is carefully tamped with a wooden block, and poured abundantly with water before starting operation. On heavily loaded paths such as vehicles passing all bricks should be placed on the edge.

The path can be built from slag, crushed stone, brick breakage. To do this, large slag, gravel or brick breakage is poured onto the tamped bottom of the ditch with a layer of 10-12 cm, then poured with water and tamped again. From above, fine slag is poured into a layer of 4-5 cm and tamped again, pouring water. If possible, the base is covered with oily clay with a layer of 1-2 centimeters and covered with fine gravel or slag with a layer of 2-3 centimeters with tamping.

And finally, I suggest a very unusual path that I happened to see in Estonia. This is a garden path made of old car tires. I think that any summer resident can make such a path, since the material (car tires) is lying everywhere.

So, the tire is cut from the sides so that only the "treadmill" remains (that is, the patterned tread). To make the tread easier to straighten, cuts are made along the edges every 20-25 cm. The depth of the cuts is about 2/3 of the cord thickness. That's all. It remains only to slightly deepen the path into the ground. You can operate such a track at any time, in any weather.

In recent years, garden paths made of the so-called "paving slabs" are becoming more widespread in manor houses and cottage settlements (see Fig. 12). This material consists of three main components: sand, polymer, and color pigment. It is not cement, but a polymer that is used as a bonding element. Paving slabs are characterized by high strength, water resistance, acid resistance and especially frost resistance (withstand temperatures up to -70oС). The tile has sufficient plasticity, so it does not crack, does not split, which results in very little waste during transportation, installation and operation. However, this material is very weighty in price, so it is not affordable for a simple summer resident-gardener. Especially for a pensioner. Learn more about the construction of paths from colored plates

If we paraphrase a well-known aphorism, then we can conclude: how many summer residents - so many options for garden paths. The main thing here is reliability and ease of use. And what they are made of is a secondary matter.