Anyone who has a gravel driveway or path will be all too familiar with having to regularly rake the gravel. Loose gravel is constantly moved aside by traffic, especially on sloping driveways. Regular maintenance in the form of raking is required to re-spread the gravel. The frequency of this time consuming maintenance can be reduced substantially by using our Gravel Paving. Once installed, the paver contains the gravel within individual honeycomb cells to prevent it moving when trafficked. It also increases the load bearing capacity of the driveway.
Gravel Paving is typically installed just like any other paving system and then filled with the gravel of your choice. When installed properly, they should also have the same functionality as any other paving systems. The natural permeability of gravelled areas are maintained allowing the natural percolation of rain water into the ground. Paved areas are fully porous and permeable and will contribute towards flood prevention by allowing rain water to percolate naturally into the ground. This means gravel paved areas should not require any additional drainage. This is why gravel paving is one of the simplest and cheapest form of permeable paving or porous paving to help reduce the SUDS requirements on projects.
Typical application would require the pavers be laid on a levelled sand blinding and bedding layer on an optional layer of geotextile over a compacted hardcore base down to suitable formation.
Main factors to be considered when deciding on a suitable gravel paving system are durability, required design life, traffic loading, frequency of loading, stability when trafficked, ease of installation and finally cost. The rule of thumb is you get what you pay for. Premium systems will generally last longer, carry heavier loads, more stable under traffic and easier to install with less cutting required.
Gravel Paving vs Gravel Stabilisers or Retainers
Gravel Paving is a proper certified construction grade gravel retention system and should not be confused with gravel stabilizers or gravel retainers.
Gravel stabilisers and retainers are landscaping grade products which purpose is to only contain the gravel. They have side walls which are only 1-2mm thick and thus are not capable of supporting traffic loading on their own. The traffic loading has to be supported by the gravel infill at all times. Should the gravel be displaced for whatever reason, the walls of the stabilizer or retainer will immediately crush and collapse under load and will need to be replaced. This happens often because gravel stick to wheel when driven over or get kicked away. Gravel stabilisers and retainers are also usually made from cheaper lower grade and quality plastics and do not last very long when exposed to uv from sunlight.
Our Gravel Paving on the other hand is specially designed for purpose and superior in every way. It is substantially stronger with walls of up to 5mm thick and capable of supporting traffic loading even when empty. It is also made from much higher quality plastic with high uv resistance. The end result is a better and more durable and longer lasting solution. Many of our clients who previously used Gravel Stabilisers are now replacing them with proper Gravel Paving instead.
In addition, unlike the Gravel Stabilising Mats, Gravel Paving does not require additions geotextile underlay and fixing pins for stability to prevent it moving and lifting. This is because the Gravel paving interlocks and has a baseplate with built in studs to provide stability.
Geo-Coastal GRAVEL PAVING
Our premium heavy duty plastic gravel reinforcement system comprises a 500mm x 500mm paver with a 40mm hexagonal honeycomb infill depth and 25mm integrated spike anchorage zone. It is manufactured in the EU from high quality UV stabilised recycled HDPE, making it highly durable, strong and environmentally friendly. The standard colours are green and grey but other colours are available on request, subject to availability or quantity required.
For peace of mind, it is TUV certified and has also been approved for use on many high profile applications such as on motorway medians, hard shoulders and service areas for the NRA, fire access roads and carparks for the OPW. Other applications include buggy tracks, helipads and pedestrian tracks for many golf courses and hotels around Ireland.
Recent notable installations are on the Microsoft in Grangecastle, Dept of Environment in Wexford, Google Irl in Grangecastle, M50 Motorway, M7 Motorway, Malahide Castle, GrangeGorman Hospital, Oakfield Park, Howth Golf Club, Young Offenders Detention Centre in Lusk etc.
High quality UV stabilised recycled HDPE means it is both highly durable and environmentally friendly. This is unlike cheaper alternatives which have a tendency to get brittle and splinter very quickly when exposed to sunlight.
The hexagonal honeycomb shape as nature knows best is the strongest shape for load bearing purposes and is structurally superior to circles and squares.
It also has a reinforced base plate and integrated anchorage spikes or studs (See photo to the above right) which makes it extremely rigid and very stable when trafficked. This also means no additional anchorage pins are required. The hook and loop connection (See photo below right) between pavers provides tolerance during installation, making it one of the easiest and fastest systems to install with minimal cutting required. Cheaper system which usually just slot together vertically offer no tolerance whatsoever and require a lot of cutting during installation. As you can see, it is design for purpose rather than to cost.
Unique system benefits:
- Hexagonal honeycombs with heavy tapered side walls for additional strength
- Made from high quality recycled UV stabilised HDPE for durability
- Base Plate reinforcement for strength and load distribution
- Built-in pins/studs to prevent movement and pull out. No additional pins are required. Also speeds up installation
- Connectors which hinge and has tolerance for ease and speed of installation
- Use less gravel, only 40mm of gravel required
- Parking markers
- Can be filled with a choice of materials since it is strong enough to take loading on its own
- Permeable paving
Typical Uses include:
- Gravel Driveways
- Sloping Driveways
- Fire access roads
- Car parking
- Caravan parking
- Footpaths
- Helipads
- Golf buggy tracks
- Erosion control
- Agricultural entrances
Please click on the link below for more information on this system.
Download and view our Brochure (PDF)
When filled with compost or topsoil and sown with grass seeds, this paving system also becomes a very effective and durable Grass Paving system. It has been used extensively and successfully by various golf clubs, hotels and parks for this purpose. More information on this is available from our Grass Paving webpage.
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