Driveway Gradient help needed...

[christianbeccy]

We access our house from a driveway shared between 3 houses. There is a old wall to one side that is not owned by any of us and is too high. I have talked to the owner of the wall and they are not very keen to allow the height to be sympathetically altered, even at my expense, so we're on to Plan B.

The owners of the 3 houses that use the drive agree that we would like to improve the safety and will seek to raise the level of the driveway as the best workaround. To do that we would need to add around 200-220mm to the height, 2.4-2.5 metres back from the highway line, blending it back to highway level, but of course this creates a bit of a ramp (around 10% by my reckoning). This would create a height of around 1m to the top of the wall, much safer.

If you look closely at the picture, there is a water main cover in the grass verge. That happens to be about 2.5 metres back from the highway and it currently sits at around 250mm from the surface, so the alteration would put the finished drive just under that height.

My question is, how would this be in terms of usage when turning in off the road? Will this gradient pose much risk of normal cars grounding out?

 

[foxhole]

Wall is too high for what exactly? How is it safer with raised road?

 

[christianbeccy]

Wall is too high for what exactly? How is it safer with raised road?

To see traffic to the left when you join the highway. There is a 1m fence on the other side and the view that was is perfect, we want to achieve the same effect to the left. By raising the surface of the drive, we'll be able to see over it. Problem (mostly) solved. (Hopefully).

 

[foxhole]

Stick up a mirror, cheap and easy.

 

[Tigercubrider]

I am unsure what your point is?
Are you only adjusting the gradient due to sight lines?
You could get a mirror on a post to allow you to see along the road for a lot less hassle
https://www.barriersdirect.co.uk/tr...ti-scratch-virtually-unbreakable-vialux-p1534

 

[christianbeccy]

I am unsure what your point is?
Are you only adjusting the gradient due to sight lines?
You could get a mirror on a post to allow you to see along the road for a lot less hassle

We could, but the driveway needs resurfacing anyway and this seemed like a more direct solution.

 

[foxhole]

Do homes jointly own the drive?

 

[christianbeccy]

Do homes jointly own the drive?

No, but the landowner agrees that the work can be done, I have offered to pay for it because I want to get it done and not spend months procrastinating about shares of cost. They will later resurface other parts of the drive at their cost and isn't a concern to me.

 

[foxhole]

The slope meeting the road need to slope gradually which negates any height advantage for viewing the road .

 

[Tigercubrider]

buy a 4x 4 so you can see over the wall?

 

[christianbeccy]

The slope meeting the road need to slope gradually which negates any height advantage for viewing the road .

Yes, I said that in my original post. The slope would need to transition back to the highway in the last 2.5m. But the rest of the driveway would benefit from the raised height, right up the point that you stop to view what's coming before you pull out. That's surely better than how it is now, where you have to pull gradually out into the road to peep round the corner of the wall?

So, on the original point, do you think a gradient change of 200-220mm over a length of 2.4-2.5m would create a slope that is unreasonable?

 

[Tigercubrider]

20 cm rise over 200 cm is a 1:10
20 cm rise over 250cm is 1:12 ish

an unassisted wheelchair user can go up that apparently