Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Cohousing-L Digest, Vol 24, Issue 2

[Douglas G. Larson (ddhle]

>Can anyone tell me how wide the carts that are typically used to haul  
>things from cars to homes are?  How wide do the paths need to be to  
>accommodate carts and all?

A 4-foot wide path is the minimum for garden carts to traverse and stay
on the path. At this width the cart nearly fills the path and if a cart
and driver meets another pedestrian the other pedestrian would have to
leave the path. For a cart and pedestrian to pass each other and both
stay on the path you would need 6-feet minimum. 

Also, I haven't read other comments about pea-gravel but if the pathway
goes through a wet or damp area you will need to consider drainage. A
2-inch deep pea gravel path wouldn't provide much drainage if it rains
frequently (as it does in Corvallis). A path 4" to 6" with a drain pipe
buried under the path would be better. Since pea-gravel tends to be
expensive, you wouldn't need all 6" to be pea-gravel. You could lay the
first 4" in 7/8" drain rock then the top 2" in pea-gravel. Do you have
your heart set on pea-gravel? Its pricey. Using crushed 5/8-minus is
much more common for gravel paths and less expensive than pea-gravel. As
I stated, you would put the first 4" in 7/8" drain rock, then the top 2"
with 5/8-minus crushed. As the other respondent said, you would lay
landscape fabric at the very bottom to stop weeds and movement of mud.
Lay 3" diameter perforated drain pipe on top of the landscape fabric
with the drain holes facing up. Fill with 7/8" drain rock, then top with
either pea-gravel or crushed 5/8-minus. 

You can contact me off list of you have questions. 

Douglas Larson,
Songaia Cohousing,
Bothell, Washington 
doug [at] songaia.com