Gravel, Crushed Stone and Soil Delivery in Broken Arrow, OK

Severn sandy loam on flood-laid ground

At the ZIP's center point, the USDA soil survey maps Severn very fine sandy loam, 0 to 3 percent slopes, rarely flooded. The Severn series accounts for 85 percent of that map unit. The phrase rarely flooded in the map unit name tells you the soil formed on low ground near a stream, where high water once spread silt and fine sand across the surface.^[1]

The geologic map agrees. Under the center point it shows Alluvium of Holocene age, made of fine alluvium. That is young, water-laid sediment, and it gives the Severn soil its soft, silky feel. Very fine sandy loam is easy to dig, but it can pack into a dense crust when it is driven on wet and lose its strength when soaked.^[2]

The Severn soil is rated well drained and sits in hydrologic group B, which means moderate infiltration. Shrink-swell is low, at 1.5 percent. So the ground does not heave much with moisture, but it does soften under heavy wheels after a storm, which shapes how a drive should be built.^[1]

Heavy storms and freezing days at the Tulsa station

Weather normals come from the NOAA station at Tulsa R L Jones JR AP, OK, about 11 miles away. It averages 42.1 inches of precipitation a year. Rain at that total tends to arrive in short, heavy bursts, and a gravel surface needs to shed a lot of water at once without washing out.^[3]

The Tulsa station counts 81 days a year when the low drops to 32 F or colder. Many of those nights are followed by mild afternoons, so wet ground can freeze and thaw again and again through the cold months. A base that drains well and does not hold water is the main defense against that.^[3]

The station's median last spring freeze falls on March 30. Its median first fall freeze falls on November 4. Spring planting waits for the March date, and base work goes best once the ground has dried out after the spring rains.^[3]

A drive that resists rutting and washouts

Start by stripping the dark surface soil until you reach firm very fine sandy loam. Shape a crown so water leaves the drive toward the sides, and lay woven fabric on the subgrade. On silty, flood-laid soil, fabric keeps the fines from pumping up into the base each time a car passes over wet ground.^[1]

Build the base with Road Base in compacted lifts, or use Crushed Concrete for a similar hard-packing layer. Where the drive crosses a low swale, put a layer of 1-1/2" Crushed Gravel or #4 Crushed Stone under the Road Base. Large, open stone like that carries storm water across the drive instead of letting it soak and soften the subgrade.^[1],[3]

Finish the surface with 3/4" Crushed Stone, #57 Crushed Stone or Driveway Gravel. Edge the drive with a steel or timber border, or a strip of River Rock, so the stone stays put during heavy rain. Check the low end after each big storm and rake washed stone back into place.^[3]

Lawns, beds and drainage around the house

Very fine sandy loam makes good garden ground once it has some organic matter in it. Mix Compost into the top of each bed and use Topsoil to raise low areas before seeding. Garden Soil is a simple fill for raised beds and vegetable boxes. Mulch the beds with Brown Shredded Mulch or Red Mulch to protect the silty surface from crusting under hard rain.^[1]

Heavy storms send a lot of roof water off gutters in a short time. A French drain made of perforated pipe wrapped in fabric and buried in Drain Rock carries that water away from the foundation. At the outlet, a pad of Riprap or River Rock slows the flow so it does not cut a channel in the lawn.^[1],[3]

The ground at the survey point stands 590 feet above sea level. With a map unit slope of 0 to 3 percent, most lots have only a gentle fall, so even a small swale lined with River Rock can steer water around a patio or shed.^[1],[4]

The map unit name notes rare flooding, so at the low end of a lot keep stored firewood, mulch piles and bagged soil on a raised pad of #57 Crushed Stone. A rare spell of high water then runs under them instead of soaking them, and the open stone dries out within a day.^[1]

Road Base or Asphalt Millings for a trailer pad

A side pad for a boat or camper is a frequent request on a big lot, and on Severn soil the two surfaces worth weighing are Road Base and Asphalt Millings. Each packs into a firm surface, and each needs the same groundwork: strip the topsoil, lay fabric on the very fine sandy loam and compact the subgrade well. On group B ground, water soaks in at a moderate rate, so the pad should still be crowned or sloped toward the yard.^[1]

Road Base packs hard and stays clean, and it can be topped later with 3/4" Crushed Stone if you want a neater look. Asphalt Millings bind into a dark, almost paved surface after rolling on a warm day, and they resist the loose-stone scatter that comes from turning a trailer. Through 81 freezing days a year at the Tulsa station, millings shed water off the top while Road Base lets some of it through, so millings can stay drier underneath when cold rain is followed by a hard frost.^[3]

For a pad that floods now and then near a low corner of the lot, set a layer of #4 Crushed Stone or 1-1/2" Crushed Gravel under either surface. That open stone keeps water moving below the pad. Railroad Ballast does the same job under a heavy pad that holds a large camper for months at a time.^[1]

Homes in ZIP 74011 and the ODOT base spec

The Census counts 13,192 housing units in ZIP 74011. Detached single-family houses make up 86 percent of them, and owners live in 79 percent of the occupied homes.^[5]

Broken Arrow as a whole holds 46,597 housing units, and 79 percent are detached houses. The median home dates from 1989 in the ZIP and 1994 across the city. A ZIP full of owner-occupied houses tends to mean projects like widening a driveway, adding a side parking pad for a trailer, or edging new beds with stone.^[5]

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation specifies Aggregate Base, Type A, under Section 303 of its Standard Specifications for Highway Construction (2019). That section sets out the dense, compacted stone course placed beneath state roads.^[6]