Finishing lot
grading and driveways prior to curb and public sidewalk
Curb and sidewalk construction is typically
delayed until house construction is completed to avoid potential
costs due to damage from building activity (equipment, delivery
trucks, etc).
Home builders and the resulting new home owners
are often left wondering how they can finish the boulevards in front
of their property or finish their driveway.
Following are some guidelines that can be used:
The grading within the lot and along the
front property line can be finished in accordance with the approved
lot grading plan with or without the boulevard being finished.
The boulevard can be graded prior to the
installation of the curb and sidewalks if the width of boulevard,
type of curb, and finished road elevations are known. In many
subdivisions a 6.0m wide base coat of asphalt is placed to provide a
driving surface during house construction, if barrier curb is to be
used in that case, set the boulevard to slope from the property line
to a point about 0.15m to 0.20m higher than and about 0.9m away from
the existing edge of base asphalt. This should be adequate for the
future installation of the barrier curb. In areas where sidewalk is
to be installed, the boulevard can still be finished although the
sidewalk construction will later cut through it. In general, being
slightly higher (1 to 4 cm) is better than being slightly lower.
Unfortunately driveways cannot realistically
be installed adjacent to the curb location unless the curb is
already in place. Also, sidewalks complicate the installation of
driveways. If you wish to install a driveway prior to the curb (and
sidewalk if that applies to your location), you could install the
driveway on the private property and end it at the property line.
This however leads to a joint in the driveway when it is finished
and also would likely result in a change of slope from that point to
the curb (or sidewalk).
As you can see, it is much easier to achieve a
good, final result if it is just left until the curb and sidewalk are
completed.
Lastly, the water shut-off valves should be raised
to the final grade prior to completion of the driveway or boulevard
(depending on where they are located). Care should be taken that
they are not covered with topsoil or driveways since they would then
have to be uncovered.
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