What do they call it in your area. What is #2??!?!?

[showcrop]

Every time driveway care comes up the advice that is given uses each poster's local names for the materials used. Just within my area there is a fair amount of variation. The person that I am working for will tell me where to go and what to get, and they have charge accounts all over. I know what material they want but I have to figure out what they call it when I get there. I have even had to drive out and check two different piles to see which will work best for what we are doing with it. At one quarry you ask for 1.5 inch crusher run, while at another it is called 1.5 inch stone base. A bad situation is 3/4 stone. At most quarries it is clean screened stone with no fines, while at some that is what they call crusher run gravel which contains all of the small pieces that are produced when the large rocks are crushed. Then there are the numbers for materials, which generally correspond to state highway construction specs. These numbers are used by the quarries but you rarely hear drivers using them when calling for their loads. Now one type of gravel that I see referred to here on YT is number 2. That is one that I have never come across here in NH. Is it clean 2 inch stone? Or is it two inch stone with all the smaller pieces with it? Or is it something else? So if you want to post something meaningful about gravel or stone you can do better by telling what it is rather than giving your local number.

 

[Russ from MN]

Unfortunately there are different dialects all over our country, it's too bad things can't be more standardized. In N MN where I am from for driveway base you ask for class 5, that's about 1 inch and fines, with some clay added, then I put a thin layer of 3/4 with fines on top. Otherwise the clay in the class 5 will stick to your feet occasionally.

 

[RESLLS]

3/4 with fines at the local quarry here is
called 3/4 down. Meaning 3/4" and
everything smaller.

 

[Welding man]

I bought and spread 35 Tons, Friday. Around here it is called a Number 8. About the size of a Pinto Bean but clean with no fines. A lot of folks use a # 57 about 3/4 of an inch.

 

[ThadS]

In Kansas 3/4" with fines is AB3. Without fines it is "washed". Usually 3/4" or 1 1/2" Crushed concrete is gaining popularity, but it is about the same cost since we have an abundance of limestone.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

All the quarries I've ever dealt with in VA go by a state standard for stone size.The higher the number the smaller the stone,something like 68's are a 50/50 mix of 6 and 8 stone.Crusher run has the fines and is about the same at every quarry.All the quarries have a paper on sizes and descriptions if you ask for one.

 

[wheat straw]

Any body know what sb2 is. Here in Arkansas I think it
3/4 and all below. Packs pretty good.
Andy

 

[JK-NY]

Reading your post I believe you have hit upon the reason for
the confusion and discrepancies when people from different
areas talk about crushed stone and gravel . There are the
regional differences but I think primarily the difference is in the
state specs and names for different sizes and types of
crushed stone which the stone quarries have to go by to
supply material for road construction. I had never given any
thought to why different regions have different names for the
same crushed stone before all the discussion on here.

 

[DoubleR]

I deal with two places here in Mid Mi. Both of them have about 3ftx3ft boxes outside the office with their products in each box
with their labels on them. You look at them then go in and tell them what you want.

 

[jon f mn]

Class 5 is road gravel here too

 

[rustyfarmall]

When I need gravel (crushed rock), I just call the local trucker and ask him to bring a load. I end up with about 15 tons of the same stuff that the county spreads on the roads. I THINK it is #2 crushed rock. If it is good enough for the county, it is good enough for me.

 

[glennster]

ca 6 is the 3/4 stone on down to fines , or road mix for drive ways.

 

[Texasmark1]

Counties and States use crushed rock with a certain amount of powder (finds) as the powdered part of the ruck crushing process, when mixed with water
and properly packed, forms the basis for containing the rock on the roads. I found that sometimes you can't get it as all they (the quarry) are able to
crush goes to regulatory agencies. I like to use unwashed river gravel on my surfaces. It is multisized rocks with sand and some clay and packs really
well.....and you aren't competing with the crushed rock customers.

 

[2cents]

Here we call anything for a driveway road stone(dirty)various sizes-Then we have Concrete rock (clean) various sizes. Then State rock certified . We have lime waste,3/8 base 3/8 chips 2" rubble etc etc

 

[MarkB_MI]

Here in Michigan, the most popular road material is "21AA", which could be limestone, "rock" (granite) or concrete. It includes "fines" to bind everything together.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Not a expert on this topic for sure, but if I want
gravel for finish layer on a driveway, I order A
Gravel. No stones bigger than 3/4 inches and I am
not sure of sand/gravel ratio. When putting in a new
driveway, we remove topsoil down to 10-12 inches,
and put back , put run, or B grade gravel. B gravel
will have many stones as large as 2 inches, and a
higher percentage of sand, but will pack well.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 06:35:00 03/09/20) Class 5 is road gravel here too

yes jon, but which size?

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 06:39:42 03/09/20)
When I need gravel (crushed rock), I just call the local trucker and ask him to bring a load. I end up with about 15 tons of the same stuff that the county spreads on the roads. I THINK it is #2 crushed rock. If it is good enough for the county, it is good enough for me.

Yes Rusty, but which size?

 

[tim s]

I just got a load of drive way stone they call it #57's @ $16.28 a ton,,it's clean and about the size of your thumb nail.

 

[JayinNY]

#2 in my area, not supposed to be bigger than 2?

 

[jaoneill]

To be more precise, that would be #2 clean processed stone as opposed to #2 & minus, which would be a #2 crusher run.
Then there is screened or "washed" stone. It isn't crushed so it doesn't have the flat surfaces that give the crushed version the advantage for structural purposes. It is usually considerably cheaper than the crushed version and works well for septic leach fields or foundation drainage but won't "pack-in" and will shift around if you drive over it.

 

[dpendzic]

whenever i had to order stone for a job i or one of my guys would visit the quarry to get samples of the stone and then have a sieve analysis done---different gradations for difference performance specs, jetty stone- cap stones were another ball game--have visited quarry's from Maine to New Jersey to check their characteristics.

 

[GordoSD]

Popular base here is 1 inch class A red rock from Spencer quarries.

 

[rustyfarmall]

(quoted from post at 08:05:39 03/09/20)

(quoted from post at 06:39:42 03/09/20)
When I need gravel (crushed rock), I just call the local trucker and ask him to bring a load. I end up with about 15 tons of the same stuff that the county spreads on the roads. I THINK it is #2 crushed rock. If it is good enough for the county, it is good enough for me.

Yes Rusty, but which size?

The very first load was 3" crushed rock. There was not a driveway there previously. Just grass. One year later I put down a layer of either 1" or 2". I don't remember. The most recent load was 3/4".

 

[Destroked 450]

57's here is about the size you ones thumb, state and local government use it on gravel roads because it covers more area per load. I hate the stuff, it's fairly clean with nothing small to bond it together and after a short amount of traffic all of the stone is in the center and on the sides, then they send a grader out to redistribute the rock.
For road base we use #3 stone, #3 or #4 is used for septic fill, for top coat I use dense grade which is 1/2" or less with lots of lime mixed in, it packs tight, sheds water well and gets nearly as hard a concrete.
I used some small clean #8 stone for the floor in a shed once, boy was that a mistake, being clean it never would pack and was always shifting around under you feet, I couldn't roll a hard tired 2 wheel dolly across that stuff without it sinking.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 11:38:43 03/09/20) To be more precise, that would be #2 clean processed stone as opposed to #2 & minus, which would be a #2 crusher run.
Then there is screened or "washed" stone. It isn't crushed so it doesn't have the flat surfaces that give the crushed version the advantage for structural purposes. It is usually considerably cheaper than the crushed version and works well for septic leach fields or foundation drainage but won't "pack-in" and will shift around if you drive over it.

Jaoneil, around here washed stone is crushed stone with the fines screened out then washed. It is used in leach fields or when it is going to be poured down into a hole where you don't want a lot of dust on the workers. round clean stone is called riverstone and is used for decoration.

 

[jaoneill]

Showcrop, it's all in the local vernacular, what you described would be called "clean" stone here, as in the pics above. Screened (sized) run of bank (ROB) is what is here called screened/washed, as opposed to crushed.
Least expensive driveway stuff here goes by the State DOT designation "Item 4". It is processed ROB, run through a crusher so that it contains nothing larger than 2".

 

[Billy NY]

The materials it's made from will always vary, but gradation, specific gravity and what it achieves for compaction, at optimum moisture content, (95% or better compaction) is a material that would be acceptable by a state's DOT engineer for sub base for a roadway, that would typically be the desirable material for a driveway. Take NY DOT approved Item #4, (what it was called for years) look at the gradation for it, so much percentage of a range of sieve size aggregate passing, all the way down to the fines, is how it's analyzed. It's a structural material, no clean washed stone is going to be structural, the same with sand, there is not enough of the range of different sieve size passing to create the correct density to achieve load bearing compaction at an optimum moisture content. I believe that although most of the NYS Item #4 I have dealt with was always processed from a stone quarry, it can be achieved from screened run of bank material. I worked for a small outfit that rant this material from a gravel quarry on their property that was some pretty good material once screened. I used it for structural fill, worked great.

It's going to be similar in gradation, just the natural materials will vary by location, best to use whatever the local DOT approves for roads. Same is true for concrete, DOT approved is often specified in construction specs, for a given compressive strength, because it's a tested and proven design for that material, wherever it may be sourced.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 18:25:41 03/09/20) The materials it's made from will always vary, but gradation, specific gravity and what it achieves for compaction, at optimum moisture content, (95% or better compaction) is a material that would be acceptable by a state's DOT engineer for sub base for a roadway, that would typically be the desirable material for a driveway. Take NY DOT approved Item #4, (what it was called for years) look at the gradation for it, so much percentage of a range of sieve size aggregate passing, all the way down to the fines, is how it's analyzed. It's a structural material, no clean washed stone is going to be structural, the same with sand, there is not enough of the range of different sieve size passing to create the correct density to achieve load bearing compaction at an optimum moisture content. I believe that although most of the NYS Item #4 I have dealt with was always processed from a stone quarry, it can be achieved from screened run of bank material. I worked for a small outfit that rant this material from a gravel quarry on their property that was some pretty good material once screened. I used it for structural fill, worked great.

It's going to be similar in gradation, just the natural materials will vary by location, best to use whatever the local DOT approves for roads. Same is true for concrete, DOT approved is often specified in construction specs, for a given compressive strength, because it's a tested and proven design for that material, wherever it may be sourced.

Billy, what is the largest size in that item # 4?

 

[Eldon (WA)]

For driveway gravel out here you ask for 5/8 minus. Lots of fines and compacts well. I believe the county requires it when butting up to a paved road. Around $7 a ton picked up at the pit.

 

[shinnery]

Round here I used caliche to make a parking area over sand.

 

[Fatamus]

I've help build roads in Alaska way back when. We use pit run for the base and for a topping they use D1 (1/4 minus), D1 is three fractured (broken/cracked) rock which is rock that is 1/4 inch or smaller with at least three sides with fractions. D1 has a ratio of sifted fines not just what was left over after crushing but a recipe to assist in compaction. The topping (asphalt, B-chip, concrete) is used on top of the compacted D1.
Driveway material is not needed to be at such standers. Do some research on driveways and how to use the material that you have at hand. Compaction is your ally..
Good luck.
Hope that helped

 

[Billy NY]

I think 3/4". I ought to know having hauled so much of it. Quarry would definitely know. I've got some left over crusher run at the end of the driveway, not sure if that is exactly the same as DOT approved road sub base material, but it is close, there may be some larger aggregate passing through that material than Item #4, as I have seen some larger rock, but 95% of it is like Item #4.

Benefit with using these kinds of materials is the structural aspect and or if you decide to pave it, you've got the right sub base already established. Under my driveway is a good well drained run of bank gravel, (nothing screened), topped with crusher run, which packs nicely. The frost will prevent surface moisture from percolating through, makes it sloppy in some areas where I have a bit of a seasonal spring, but once that frost breaks, it's immediately hard again. It takes a couple days of good weather, to a week with a cold winter, mud season is very short. I think with some drain tile or just being paved correctly, I can raise up the elevation with sub base, would be stable all year for heavy loads.