Streetcar
Veteran Member
57s are stone bigger than #7 and smaller than #5 sieve
Gravel names
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Streetcar
Veteran Member
Dense graded aggregate
SmallChange
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I think most of us are talking about "crushed stone", not "gravel".
"Gravel" is a natural product, little stones that have been formed by water and abrasion and whatnot. It is dug up at gravel pits, and washed and sorted. Locally, much of the soil is gravel, rounded stones that are creamy shades of yellow, orange, and white, and I guess mostly polycrystalline quartz. Locals call it "bank gravel", which I've always guessed means it's also available on river banks where the river tumbles it smooth. I have several big gravel pits surrounding my house, and a "Gravel Pit Road" nearby. There are big manmade hills of it near local roads, sorted by size, and many ponds of the washwater settling out. A couple miles from here there's even a conveyor belt that crosses over Interstate 95 like a road overpass. People buy this for ornamental uses like gardens. But I find it a pain, as anyplace around my home that is not paved is full of this gravel, in sizes from pea to a couple inches, trying to twist my ankles and make wheels slip as if on ball bearings. In our woods, trees are ringed with visible gravel. Augering through it is a nightmare, and I can jump around (briefly) on a pointed spade as if it were a pogo stick. What's not gravel is clay cementing it together.
"Crushed stone" is angular, and in this part of the country much of it is gneiss, gray with beautiful fine textures.
"Gravel" is a natural product, little stones that have been formed by water and abrasion and whatnot. It is dug up at gravel pits, and washed and sorted. Locally, much of the soil is gravel, rounded stones that are creamy shades of yellow, orange, and white, and I guess mostly polycrystalline quartz. Locals call it "bank gravel", which I've always guessed means it's also available on river banks where the river tumbles it smooth. I have several big gravel pits surrounding my house, and a "Gravel Pit Road" nearby. There are big manmade hills of it near local roads, sorted by size, and many ponds of the washwater settling out. A couple miles from here there's even a conveyor belt that crosses over Interstate 95 like a road overpass. People buy this for ornamental uses like gardens. But I find it a pain, as anyplace around my home that is not paved is full of this gravel, in sizes from pea to a couple inches, trying to twist my ankles and make wheels slip as if on ball bearings. In our woods, trees are ringed with visible gravel. Augering through it is a nightmare, and I can jump around (briefly) on a pointed spade as if it were a pogo stick. What's not gravel is clay cementing it together.
"Crushed stone" is angular, and in this part of the country much of it is gneiss, gray with beautiful fine textures.
Rustyiron
Super Member
The bigger the project the more critical the product or "recipe". This is why a lot of state roads dept. in many states owns the terminology. Their engineers can call out a product for a particular job anywhere in the state and rely on it quarry to quarry.
Our driveways and little footing projects are "piddly" compared to bridge and highway projects and the importance of materials spec'd and used.
Years ago I had a friend that had a small (dump) trucking outfit. They were building the DC subway system and specifically required a stone based on its electrical conductivity. They drove past a dozen quarries in the 60 extra miles it took.
If you think about the endless sizes and ratios in something as simple (on its face) as "crushed stone" not to mention the geological or mineral makeup of the base material....
It would be great if just the sieve size was enough and a standard across the board, but you can see where this would fall short.
Our driveways and little footing projects are "piddly" compared to bridge and highway projects and the importance of materials spec'd and used.
Years ago I had a friend that had a small (dump) trucking outfit. They were building the DC subway system and specifically required a stone based on its electrical conductivity. They drove past a dozen quarries in the 60 extra miles it took.
If you think about the endless sizes and ratios in something as simple (on its face) as "crushed stone" not to mention the geological or mineral makeup of the base material....
It would be great if just the sieve size was enough and a standard across the board, but you can see where this would fall short.
Gordon Gould
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These are the crushed ledge products from our local Pike crusher plant. Pike is the major highway contractor and paver in the state with plants all over. But they serve and treat little guys like me with one-tons and dump trailers as if we were big time customers.
The road base products are mixes from the size stated in the name down to stone dust and have some clay in them. They are all formulated to pack hard. The "ledge Pak" has some dirt in it which gives it a brownish color rather than grey. You can see the state of VT spec products Eric mentioned. Once in a great while they will have a sale on one of those under a different name when the state rejects a batch or changes the spec. Thousands of tons sometimes.
gg
The road base products are mixes from the size stated in the name down to stone dust and have some clay in them. They are all formulated to pack hard. The "ledge Pak" has some dirt in it which gives it a brownish color rather than grey. You can see the state of VT spec products Eric mentioned. Once in a great while they will have a sale on one of those under a different name when the state rejects a batch or changes the spec. Thousands of tons sometimes.
gg
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