Lower Cape
Crushed shell driveways in Chatham
Out on the elbow, open to weather on three sides, where exposure decides how a loose surface wears.
A town the ocean keeps rearranging
Chatham sits on the elbow, exposed to open Atlantic on the east and weather on three sides. The barrier beach in front of the town has broken and reformed repeatedly within living memory. In January 1987 a nor'easter finally cut through it opposite Chatham Light, and the shoreline has been rearranging itself ever since.
Between 1938 and 1974, measured erosion along that barrier ran anywhere from three feet a year to nineteen. This is not a settled coastline, and it is worth knowing that the same forces working on the beach are working, more gently, on your driveway.
What exposure does to a loose surface
Wind is the part people underestimate. A driveway that sits open to the east with nothing between it and the water loses fine material off the surface faster than a sheltered one. Not dramatically, but steadily, and it shows up as a driveway that seems to thin out quicker than it should.
Salt air is the other. It will not hurt the shell, which is calcium carbonate and perfectly happy in it, but it is hard on the edging. Untreated steel edging near the water will not last. Granite, cobblestone or a good timber holds up far better here than it needs to five miles inland.
Where a property is genuinely exposed, we would rather set the surface slightly lower against a solid edge than heap it proud, so there is less for the wind and the run off to take.
Around the town
Chatham proper, North Chatham, South Chatham and West Chatham, plus the roads out toward Morris Island. Much of the housing here is well kept and the driveway is very much part of how the property reads from the road, which is why the edge detail gets more attention in Chatham than almost anywhere else we work.
Summer traffic through the center is heavy and parking is tight. If your driveway is in the village and there is no room for a truck to stand, tell us when you call and we will plan the delivery around it rather than turning up and finding out.
Crushed stone driveways in Chatham
Exposed on three sides
Chatham takes weather from directions most of the Cape does not.
Wind driven rain hits driveways here harder than it does inland, and the town has been measuring what moving water does to this coastline since the barrier breached in 1987. A driveway is a small thing by comparison, but it is subject to the same forces.
Where a driveway is exposed and pitched, crushed stone is the more durable surface: heavier, angular, and less inclined to be pushed around by running water. In the sheltered spots behind the village, crushed shell is still the better looking and perfectly sound choice.
Get an estimate
Driveway in Chatham needing work?
We are across Bourne to Orleans regularly. Tell us roughly how big the driveway is and we will come and look at it.
- Free, with no obligation after
- We look at the base, not just the surface
- Across Bourne to Orleans
