200*12*2
$4800 diff
Most driveways that long will have problems, regardless of materials over time.
I order to avoid the most maintenance, concrete done to country specs.or better would have to have more money invested than $4800, e.g. 5"tk, #4s@15"ocew high PSI concrete w/pozzolith add, with A+ labor that prepared the supporting soils to P.O. less than 17 3-5ft deep
So expect some cracks to repair if investing anything less than that.
Asphalt needs regular traffic to beat it into place, else its base & surface begin to crack, be it only aesthetic at first. What it does to tires isn't well published but worse than anything concrete might do.
Either of these two will have a large impact on roots & trees nearby, which may fall unexpectedly ... on a vehicle parked or to block access
Most of my clients will begin a driveway process that might end in concrete (some or all eventually) with a more eco-friendly & cheaper "base". Some variations begin like this:
> remove all soils judged to be volatile - over P.I. 17 at least 36"d or lime treat that area
> lime & base material is dumpes/spread/packed 6-12"d
> bullrock is being used much more these days, packed down into this mix
> limestone gravel is then the topper, packed down (the lime & limestone help stabilize the soils)
Over the years, more limestone gravel will be needed but the soils become more stable until one day reif. concrete topping is elected with plenty of expansion joints
That said, some old timers will testify that 20-30 years of limestone gravel = what a concrete drive would have cost but they will not testify the concrete would have been entirely maintenance free nor still useful at all
Short-hand answers here ... long-hand help here ....
http://pages.suddenlink.net/tgivaughn/
