Temporary driveway

Abstract

A temporary driveway for new home construction includes one or more removable pre-cast planks. The pre-cast planks are constructed of reinforced pre-cast concrete and are sized to accommodate the passage of vehicles over their surface. The reinforcement is in the form of a row of pre-stressed cables adjacent the top surface and the bottom surface of the plank. Four lift inserts are recessed into the top surface of the plank near each of the corners of the plank to balance the load during lifting. The pre-cast planks are lifted with a standard lifting rig such as a boom crane attached to the lift inserts. The pre-cast planks are transported to a construction site, lifted from the transport vehicle by a standard lifting rig, and placed in a desired location at a new home construction site. Several pre-cast planks are placed end-to-end to form the temporary driveway. When the temporary driveway is no longer needed, the pre-cast planks are lifted and transported away from the construction site.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to the construction of driveways and particularly to the construction of temporary driveways used in new home construction. [0002] The driveway provides access to the construction site and is typically one of the first things constructed when a new home is being built. One option that may be used for a driveway in new home construction is to simply put the permanent driveway in place. However, installation of a finished surface such as concrete or blacktop prior to the construction is problematic because construction vehicles such as concrete trucks, hauling trucks, and other equipment can easily damage the finished surface of the driveway. For instance, a finished concrete driveway is typically only four inches thick. While this thickness is adequate for normal traffic associated with residential property, it is likely not sufficient for construction traffic. [0003] Therefore, one form of temporary driveway ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a temporary driveway for new home construction that is durable, portable, and can be easily moved and placed at different locations. The temporary driveway is reinforced to withstand heavy traffic and is made of pre-cast planks that can be easily transported and placed on the construction site. The planks are reinforced with pre-stressed cables and are designed to be lifted and transported using a lifting system. The temporary driveway is pre-cast off-site and can be easily removed once construction is complete. This invention simplifies and speeds up the process of constructing a driveway and reduces the hassles associated with traditional gravel driveways."

Problems solved by technology

However, installation of a finished surface such as concrete or blacktop prior to the construction is problematic because construction vehicles such as concrete trucks, hauling trucks, and other equipment can easily damage the finished surface of the driveway.

While this thickness is adequate for normal traffic associated with residential property, it is likely not sufficient for construction traffic.

However, there are problems commonly associated with this form of driveway.

One problem is that the placement of the gravel can be time consuming.

Another significant problem is water drainage.

However, a gravel drive cannot be similarly prepared.

If water drainage is not controlled, water that pools on the surface can wash away gravel.

Moreover, improper water runoff often creates serious problems including flooding in areas that are not capable of handling the excess water.

Another common problem of gravel driveways is keeping the gravel in the temporary driveway during heavy construction traffic.

Traffic over the gravel can cause the gravel to disperse and spill past the boundaries of the driveway into the yard.

Keeping the gravel in its intended location can be a time consuming and labor intensive job.

Gravel that has been displaced into the yard can pose a hazard where gravel is buried when the lawn is prepared.

The removal of the gravel after it is no longer needed poses another problem.

In this case, some or all of the gravel will have to be removed and the driveway re-graded to prepare for the new concrete or asphalt driveway which adds time, labor, and expense to the construction process.

Similar problems arise in other construction projects where a temporary driving or parking surface is needed.

In most cases, a temporary gravel surface is prepared, which poses the problems mentioned above.

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