Base prep for a curved driveway

The forms for a curving driveway are set and staked, and the red clay inside them is compacted with a plate compactor while the mixer truck stands by.

Most of a driveway’s life is decided before the pour. Here the forms for a sweeping, curved driveway are set on grade and staked, and the ground inside them is being compacted with a plate compactor, pass after pass, right up to the pour, so the slab sits on firm ground instead of loose fill.

East Texas red clay swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries. Compacting it and building the base right is what keeps a slab from settling and cracking later.

The mixer truck is already on site, so the pour follows the prep.