Gravel, Rock, Sand and Soil Delivery in Albuquerque, NM

Graded Ground at the Center Point

ZIP 87102 lies in Bernalillo County. At the ZIP's center point, the USDA soil survey maps Cut and fill land, a unit for ground that earthmoving has cut down in some places and built up in others.^[1]

Ground like that has no single profile. Within one lot, a dig can hit packed native material where a cut was made, then loose, mixed fill a few steps away where soil was pushed in. Fill that was never compacted can keep settling for years, and a patio or drive laid across the line between cut and fill may sink on one side.^[1]

The safe approach is to treat every job as a fill site until a test hole proves otherwise. Dig in two or three spots, probe with a steel rod, and note where it pushes in easily. Soft areas should be dug out and rebuilt with Fill Dirt or Road Base packed in thin, damp lifts.^[1]

Ground at the center point stands 4,970 feet above sea level, according to the USGS elevation service.^[2]

Graded fill can carry a mix of sizes, from fine dust to cobbles. Screening out the larger stones before a bed goes in, or simply building the bed on top with fresh soil, saves a lot of digging.^[1]

Dry fill packs poorly. Each lift of base or fill should be dampened with a hose until it darkens, then packed before it dries again. Fill that is compacted bone dry looks firm on the day but can settle after the first long soaking it gets.^[1]

Dry Air, Light Snow and Many Freezing Nights

The nearest NOAA normals station is Albuquerque Intl AP, NM, about 3 miles away. It averages 8.8 inches of precipitation and 7.9 inches of snowfall a year.^[3]

The low at the airport station reaches 32 F or colder on 93 days in an average year. The station's median last spring freeze is April 6, and its median first fall freeze is November 3.^[3]

Frequent freezing nights put any water trapped in a stone layer through repeated freeze and thaw. Stone with too many fines holds that water and can heave, while a well-drained course with a crowned surface sheds snowmelt before it can freeze in place.^[3]

With so little rain, most plantings depend on irrigation, and every drop that lands should stay where it can do some good. Stone covers slow evaporation from the soil beneath them, and a shallow basin of River Rock around a tree catches the runoff from a rare storm.^[3]

Bare fill can also blow and raise dust when it dries out. A layer of gravel or Decomposed Granite holds the surface down and keeps grit out of the house.^[3]

Shrubs and perennials benefit from a layer of Brown Shredded Mulch or Wood Chips put down ahead of the November 3 median first fall freeze at the airport station. The mulch shields roots from the coldest nights and holds the moisture that winter watering leaves behind.^[3]

Where snow is shoveled or plowed off a gravel drive, set the blade or shovel a little high so it skims the snow and leaves the stone in place. Snow pushed to the edges should sit where its melt can drain off the drive rather than back across it.^[3]

Decomposed Granite or River Rock for a Dry Yard

Many yards in dry places use stone in place of a lawn. Two covers come up most often, Decomposed Granite and River Rock. They look and behave differently, and the right one depends on how the area will be used.^[3]

Decomposed Granite is fine, gritty granite that packs into a firm, walkable surface when it is dampened and tamped. It suits paths, patios and seating areas. Under foot traffic it stays smooth, but on a slope a hard rain can carry loose top grains downhill, so it needs edging and a gentle grade.^[3]

River Rock is rounded, washed stone in larger pieces. It does not pack, so it is no good for walking surfaces, but it is ideal for beds, dry creek channels and the ground under drip-watered shrubs. Its weight keeps it in place in wind, and water passes straight through to the soil.^[3]

A common layout uses both, with Decomposed Granite on the paths and the patio and River Rock in the planted areas between them. Fabric under the rock keeps weeds from pushing through. Pea Gravel is a softer middle choice for a sitting area where a loose surface is fine.^[3]

Flagstone paths through a stone yard need a setting bed that stays put. Stone Dust Screenings, spread a couple of inches deep over packed ground and tamped, let each flag sit level, and more screenings swept into the joints lock the path together.^[3]

A Drive Built for Freeze and Thaw

On graded fill, the drive starts with the ground beneath it. Strip any loose surface soil, pack what is exposed with a plate compactor or roller, and fill soft spots with Road Base until the whole area feels firm under the tamper.^[1]

Next comes the base course. Road Base laid in two or three lifts, each one dampened and packed, forms a dense layer that carries cars without rutting. On ground that sees many freezing nights, crown the surface so snowmelt runs to the edges instead of soaking into the middle.^[3]

For the top layer, Driveway Gravel or #57 Crushed Stone gives a clean face. A gravel with fines binds together better in dry weather, while open stone drains faster after snow. A packed base with a thin top of open stone gets some of both.^[3]

Along the low edge, a trench of Drain Rock gives meltwater a path off the drive. A few large pieces of Riprap at a culvert or a steep edge stop the occasional heavy storm from cutting a gully into the shoulder.^[3]

Crushed Concrete and Asphalt Millings are two other surfaces for a long drive or a parking pad. Crushed Concrete packs much like Road Base, and millings bind into a hard, dark surface once rolled. Either one still needs a firm, drained layer under it on graded fill.^[1]

Housing in ZIP 87102

Census survey estimates put the housing stock of ZIP 87102 at 11,505 units. Albuquerque as a whole has 258,178.^[4]

Within the ZIP, 40 percent of homes are detached single-family houses. Across the city, 62 percent are.^[4]

Homes in ZIP 87102 have a median build year of 1960, older than the citywide median of 1982.^[4]

Owner-occupied homes account for 35 percent of the ZIP's occupied housing.^[4]

The New Mexico Department of Transportation covers the stone layer under its pavements in Section 303 of its Standard Specifications for Highway and Bridge Construction, which lists Base Course, Type I.^[5]