18 wheeler turning room

[nursebee]

Sugar prices are high. I am going to have driveway work done in the next couple of months and want to allow room for a truck to deliver corn syrup. I picture having some form of a circle for it to drive around. How much room should I allow it to drive without backing up.
Thank you.

[iddee]

Depends on the driver. For some, 40 acres.

[iddee]

If there is nothing in the middle of the circle, 100 ft. will do.

[Ian]

A good driver can back up into almost any tight spot without complaining about it. The ones that complain, arnt meant to be driving anyway.

[LMN]

A lot of truckers now days are not Professional drivers, they are just steering wheel holders.

"The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them."

[power napper]

Nursebee--do you know any truck drivers in your area that you could ask for advice? Mostly the people doing the needed excavation work for the drive use trailers to haul their own equipment and could help you out.

[SilverFox]

A good driver worth his salt can and will be able to back all most anywhere. I used to deliver to the south water market in Chicago, that was fun, they did have ground guides tho.
Been in many places where I had only a 1/2" on either side.
I back our 25 ft fifth wheel into our recessed drive off a narrow 2 lane road, the gate is 12ft wide and 12' back off the road. [ I_I ]like that
Best bet is to ask the company what they require, as far as unload site goes, ie- turn around, pull thru, or back in/back out. And go with what they request or say.

[honeyman46408]

""I used to deliver to the south water market in Chicago""

I saw that place in the 60s and it seprated the MEN from the {REAL} truck drivers!!

[Rob-bee]

I have been driving a truck for over 20 years. I still do so till this day. So here is my 2 cents worth. If he is delivering corn syrup in a 40 foot tanker,{probably is} any average size caldesac will be plenty of room. BUT here is the catch which many never consider. Weight! A full tank will weight 80000 lbs. An average SUV weighs 6000 lbs. If you are wanting the driver to back or turn around on cement the truck most surely will crack or break it. Any experienced driver would refuse to do so. If it was asphalt the rear tires could and probably damage it when he circles around. If it is dirt then that is better as long as water or underground pipes, septic tanks are not an issue. Think about the ruts in asphalt you see on the highway. Then think about where you want the truck to go. Just because a pick up truck will cross it doesn't mean a heavy truck will. A lot of ground is a thin layer of hard crust and soft mud or clay under it. And lastly more room is better than less. Hope that helped.

[KSbee]

nursbee- I'll put on my civil engineer hat... Here's a link to the turning radius template as developed by by the FHA for a typical semi. Let me know if you have any quesitons.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/images/y2kgb13.jpg

[Barry Digman]

Are you planning on storing the syrup in a tank? If so, I'd look into a pipe or hose system. It could be a lot cheaper than concrete and dirt work, especially if you have to build a driveway that will handle a semi.

[wfarler]

If you look at the template referenced by KSbee you can see why a semi can back into a much tighter space than it can pull forward into.

At first look they balk at trying to get down the one lane road into my farm. But with some convincing and the threat of having to go back to the terminal with their load I can usually talk them into backing down the lane.

[SilverFox]

When I drove (semi), I loved backing, always saw it as a new challenge, of course I'm weird anyway. :D

[nursebee]

Wow, what a response. Thank you.

I was planning on DOT approved 20 ft pipe to lay on top of a bed of sand to cross the drainage ditches. Then ABC rock on top. THis previous treatment has been good enough for the main driveway to have a concrete pump truck and several deliveries during our building process. Considering the weight though, the driveway needs to be scraped to hardpan prior to bringing in the stone again.
Template is great!

[KSbee]

nursbee- A gravel drive will work fine. Just make sure if you're placing any fill or even if your making a cut you achieve proper compaction. An easy way to do this is have a loaded tandem dump truck drive the area, stop and pull foward back-up a few times. If you don't get any rutting you're good to go, if it ruts, rent or borrow a sheeps foot and compact. After the base is done, add gravel and you're finished. If it's going to be heavily used I'd recommend a layer of geofabric between the subgrade and the gravel to keep the dirt out of the rock and visa versa.
On your pipe- if possibly try to keep the cover at least equal to the pipes diameter. Also the more densily you compact the cover over the pipe, the less load the pipe will have to take. For instance, a soil compacted to 85% density with depth equal to the pipe diameter will have a load factor of approx. .86. Multiply this times the maximum weight you're expecting (per axle) to figure out what the pressure acting on the pipe will be.