Driveway preparation in Berwick & Casey.

The six stages.

1. Site set-out: peg the driveway edges, kerb tie-in, crossover line, the slab-edge interface with the garage / house.
2. Strip / demolition: remove topsoil 100–200mm or break up any old slab/cracker-dust sub-base. Cart spoil away (dump docket on file).
3. Sub-grade prep: level the exposed sub-grade, hand-test or densometer for strength. Lime-stabilise on reactive Class M/H clay where shear strength is low.
4. Sub-base lay: lay 150–200mm of crushed rock in 100mm lifts. Watercart adjusts moisture to optimum. Smooth-drum roller compacts each lift to 95% SMDD before the next.
5. Edge drainage: install 100mm slotted ag-line along the high side where the engineer or site conditions require it (almost always on reactive clay). Discharge to legal stormwater.
6. Finish trim: precision trim to final levels, edges crisp. Hand-over to the concreter.

Spec by soil type.

• Class P / M silty-loam (most of Cranbourne, Officer, Clyde, north Berwick): 150mm crushed-rock sub-base. ~$80–$110/m².
• Class M / M-D moderately reactive clay (central Berwick, Narre Warren South, Cranbourne West): 150–180mm sub-base with edge drainage. ~$100–$140/m².
• Class M / H1 highly reactive clay (Endeavour Hills, Hampton Park, eastern Hallam, Narre Warren North): 180–200mm sub-base + lime-stabilised sub-grade + edge drainage. ~$110–$170/m².

Why cheap quotes fail in 5 years.

The cheapest driveway prep quotes you’ll see in Casey skip one or more of: proper sub-base depth, compaction in 100mm lifts (single 200mm lift never compacts properly), edge drainage on reactive clay, lime stabilisation on weak sub-grade. Each of those saves $400–$1,200 on day one. Together they’re why so many 1990s and 2010s Casey driveways have lifted, cracked or undulated. We’d rather miss your job than build it the wrong way.

Driveway crossovers.

City of Casey requires crossovers be built to their standard detail. We do the crossover sub-base as part of the driveway job — one mobilisation, one crew. Council inspects after the concrete pour; we coordinate inspection timing with the concreter so the slab doesn’t sit un-poured. Crossover prep typically adds $1,200–$2,200 to a residential driveway job.

Rural and acreage driveways.

Narre Warren North, outer Cranbourne East, the Pakenham fringe and rural Officer all need different driveway thinking — battered shoulders, crowned cross-fall, pipe culverts under natural drainage lines, passing bays. $50–$150 per linear metre depending on finish (basic crushed-rock running course through to fully engineered all-weather drive).