BUilding Code for concrete driveway

March 13, 2010 7:36 AM

What does 2006 building code say about pouring a cement driveway?

For all you contractors out there.

I am pouring a cement driveway roughly 8'6" by 70'

What are the minimum requirements for pouring the concrete?

Do I need mesh or rebar? What is the minimum thickness?

I live in Utah, and the building codes here adhere to the 2006 International Residential Building Codes.

I would call the city (where I got my permit), but they are closed on the weekends.

posted by blueplasticfish to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

This is not an authoritative answer, but a semi-educated guess: 6" of concrete w/steel mesh, on top of ~2" of gravel, is probably what you need.
posted by jon1270 at 10:06 AM on March 13, 2010

I'm not in Utah, but the UT code (and that of most other states) is available here as a 56MB PDF.

Taking a quick look at the code (Section 19, mostly), you need a min thickness of 3.5" (89 mm). It looks like the concrete needs to have minimum compressive strength of 3,500 psi (25 MPa). Air entrainment and reinforcement are specified, but I don't see exact numbers, the code refers to other documents/specs I don't have available.

The cement company should know the exact requirements for the mix itself if you ask them.
posted by jjb at 11:14 AM on March 13, 2010

It's important that you not only meet minimum requirements for thickness, and reinforcement, but that the concrete mix, and concrete additives, pour process, finishing process, and curing all combine to provide a finished drive with appropriate strength and weather resistance properties, for the site you're on. This will vary, in some measure, with grade, and sub-soil conditions, beyond what is specified in code. In Utah, you have annual freeze/thaw cycles that require surface concrete to have air entrainment to resist spalling and freeze cracks, but for driveways, you also need surface roughness and flex characteristics beyond what sidewalk mixes and finishing techniques provide. You should have an independent concrete test agency sample and report on your concrete, to verify you get what you've paid to have poured.

Not enough info in your question to reliably answer, but 70' of drive length could also call for attention to expansion joints, in a multi-slab pour.
posted by paulsc at 12:13 PM on March 13, 2010

Not enough info in your question to reliably answer, but 70' of drive length could also call for attention to expansion joints, in a multi-slab pour.

This. Especially in a climate like Utah's where you have hard freezes and frost heave. This is the kind of thing I'd hire a professional to do...
posted by SpecialK at 1:56 PM on March 13, 2010