Archive for Materials Usage
Tips on Planting a Vegetable Garden using Topsoil
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Planting a vegetable garden is a very popular choice these days. One of the most important aspects of planting a vegetable garden that thrives is using the correct amount of topsoil. Topsoil may just look like a pile of dirt, but it provides the nutrients and organic matter necessary for a vegetable garden to grow an abundance of healthy vegetables. What type of topsoil is best to use when planting a vegetable garden and how much topsoil you need for your garden are two questions often asked by people when they decide to plant a vegetable garden.
What exactly is topsoil? Topsoil is the top layer of the Earth’s surface and is usually about two to eight inches deep. What makes topsoil so important to the vibrant growth of vegetables, plants and trees is the richness of the minerals, composted material and microorganisms that are mixed in with the topsoil and provide the proper nutritional balance. In fact, most of a plant’s roots remain within the layer of topsoil to obtain the nutrients needed directly from the topsoil and don’t venture further down into the subsoil, the next layer of soil below the topsoil layer. That is why it is important to use nutrient rich topsoil and determine the proper amount of topsoil needed when planting a vegetable garden, because it is the topsoil layer that provides the nutrients and minerals needed to make your vegetable plants thrive.
Once you have determined where you are going to plant a vegetable garden, it is important to figure out the size of your garden so you can determine how much topsoil you need. Calculating the amount of topsoil needed is easy, thanks to a topsoil calculator. With a topsoil calculator, you simply choose whether the area you need to cover is rectangular or circular and then put in the dimensions of the area (either length and width for rectangular areas or diameter for circular areas) and how deep you want the layer of topsoil to be into the topsoil calculator. The topsoil calculator then determines the correct amount of topsoil needed, measured in cubic yards, so that you do not wind up ordering too much topsoil or too little topsoil for your vegetable garden. Using a topsoil calculator is a great way to accurately and easily determine how much topsoil you need for your garden without a lot of guesswork or mathematical equations.
Of course, in addition to topsoil for your vegetable garden, there are a few other factors that are important in making sure that planting a vegetable garden reaps the rewards you hope for. It is important to properly space your plants apart from one another within the topsoil and to ensure that your vegetable plants get the proper amount of sun and water. Fertilizing your vegetable plants helps them grow healthy and strong and adds to the nutrients already found in the topsoil. Organic fertilizers are best for vegetable gardens.
Planting a vegetable garden is a great hobby or family activity. Not only does it supply an abundance of fresh and delicious vegetables all season long, but it is a great way to save money at the supermarket as the price of produce continues to rise.
Sand Uses
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Sand is a contraction material widely used in the Northeast and is available from suppliers and trucking companies for a variety of uses. Construction Sand and Building Sand is usually supplied as Mason Sand, Concrete Sand, Fill Sand, Septic Sand, Filtering Sand, Utility Sand, White Mason Sand, Beach Sand and Bank Run Sand
• Beach Sand – Beach Sand is a fine sand. It can be mixture of white, brown, beige, tan, and gray in color. Beach sand is used for patios, volley ball courts, sandboxes, playgrounds, and creating faux beaches
• Utility Sand - Utility Sand is a fine sand. It is usually a mixture of beige, tan, gray, brown, and white. It is used to backfill utility pipes such as water, gas, or electric, and to back fill trenches
• Fine Utility Sand – Fine Utility Sand is an extra fine sand. Like utility sand it is used to backfill utility pipes such as water, gas, or electric, and to back fill trenches, but it is also used for horse arenas, and to fill sandbags.
• Concrete Sand - Concrete Sand is a coarse sand. It is mixture of beige, tan, gray, brown, and white. Concrete sand is used mainly for mixing with cement, but it may also be used in septic systems.
• Mason Sand - Mason Sand is a coarse sand. General mason sand is mixture of beige, tan, gray, brown, and some white in color, but there is specific White Mason Sand. Mason Sand is used for to mix with concrete & mortar for laying blocks, bricks and stone.
• White Mason Sand - White Mason Sand is a specific mason sand with specific job application. White Mason Sand is used to mix with concrete & mortar for laying white blocks and bricks to create a white mortar line
• Bank Run Sand - Bank Run Sand is a fine to coarse sand. Bank Run Sand is usually used to mix with concrete for fence posts, patios. It is mixture of beige, tan, and gold in color
Try our Sand Calculator to estimate how many cubic yards of sand you need for your coverage area
Gravel Uses
Posted by: | CommentsGravel
“Gravel” actually refers to a variety of products. In the NY, NJ and most of the Northeast gravel is used for gravel patios, garden gravel, gravel playgrounds, gravel dog runs and gravel driveways. Suppliers in this area usually carry: Gravel, Crushed Gravel, & Rocks including Pea Gravel, 3/8″ Yellow Pea Gravel, 3/8″ White Pea Gravel, 3/4″ Yellow Pea Gravel, and 3/4″ White Pea Gravel.
• 3/8 inch Yellow Pea Gravel – 3/8″ Yellow Pea Gravel, is a yellow gravel mixed with gray and white. It is used for patios, driveways, dog runs, gardens & playgrounds. Pea gravel may be used in sub surface gas tank installations.
• 3/4 inch Yellow Pea Gravel – 3/4″ Yellow Pea Gravel, is a yellow gravel mixed with gray and white. It is used for patios, driveways, dog runs, gardens & play grounds. Pea gravel may be used in sub surface gas tank installations.
• 3/8 inch White Pea Gravel – 3/8″ White Pea Gravel, is white gravel mixed with gray and yellow. It is used for patios, driveways, dog runs, gardens & playgrounds. Pea gravel may be used in sub surface gas tank installations.
• 3/4 inch White Pea Gravel – 3/4″ White Pea Gravel, is a white gravel mixed with gray and yellow. It is used for patios, driveways, dog runs, gardens & playgrounds. Pea gravel may be used in sub surface gas tank installations
Topsoil Uses
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Topsoil could be used for gardens, sodding, planting beds, athletics fields and golf courses. Below is the definition of topsoil from wikipedia:
Topsoil is the uppermost layer of soil, usually the top 2 to 6 inches. Topsoil has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms, and is where most of the Earth’s biological soil activity occurs. Plants generally concentrate their roots in, and obtain most of their nutrients from this layer of top soil. The actual depth of the topsoil layer can be measured as the depth from the surface to the first densely packed soil layer known as hardpan. As one of the layers of soil on the Earth’s surface, topsoil is sometimes referred to as the A horizon. This layer is formed from the deposition of eroded material as well as decaying organic matter. A variety of soil mixtures are sold commercially as topsoil, usually for use in improving gardens and lawns, or for ideal growing conditions in container gardens, by using potting soil, for example.A major environmental concern known as topsoil erosion, occurs when the topsoil layer is blown or washed away. Without topsoil, little plant life is possible. It takes approximately 500 years for one inch of topsoil to be deposited, but there is 25 billion tons of topsoil lost each year.
Crushed Stone Uses
Posted by: | CommentsCrushed Stone
Crushed stone and or rocks supplied in the Northeast generally include 3/8″ Crushed Stone, 5/8″ Crushed Stone, 3/4″ Crushed Stone, 1 1/2″ Crushed Stone, 2 1/2″ Crushed Stone, Stone Screenings, and “DGA” Dense Graded Aggregate. All crushed stone materials have different uses and applications. Below is a brief overview of the different types of uses crushed stone has in the construction, building and landscaping industries.
• Stone Dust or Stone Screenings - Stone Dust is used as a base for paving blocks & base for concrete paved roads and areas such as horse arenas
• 3/8″ Crushed Stone - 3/8 inch crushed stone is usually bluish to grayish in color. It is a clean stone that is used for driveways, drainage, and is often mixed with asphalt.
• 5/8″ Crushed Stone – 5/8 inch crushed stone generally has the same look and applications as 3/8 inch crushed stone, only it is slightly larger
• 3/4″ Crushed Stone - 3/4 inch Crushed Stone is also blue to gray in color, but its larger size has some additional uses. 3/4 inch Crushed Stone is used in driveways, but it is also used for around trees, landscaping, French drains, and as a sub-base for concrete sidewalks, concrete driveways, and patios,
• 1 1/2″ Crushed Stone - 1 1/2 inch Crushed Stone like most crushed stone, is blue or gray. It is primarily used for drainage, septic systems, and as a road base
• 2 1/2″ Crushed Stone - 2 1/2 inch Crushed Stone is blue or gray. These largest of the crushed stone products are used primarily for septic systems, & tracking pads on job sites.
• 3/4″ DGA – DGA or Dense Graded Aggregate is a combination of crushed stone and gravel created in a quarry process. Dense Graded Aggregate is used as a base material for driveways or walkways, road base, or a base for interlocking walls.
If you have any questions on what type of crushed stone to buy for your project call Tom at 917-912-2900
Crushed Stone-Statistical Compendium by U.S. Geological Survey
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CRUSHED STONE
Statistical Compendium by U.S. Geological Survey, Minerals Information
Commodity Specialist: Valentin V. Tepordei (vteporde@usgs.gov) Last modification: 11/04/97
Stone, in its multitude of forms, represents a very significant part of the Earth’s crust and one of the most accessible natural resources. Stone has been used since the earliest days of our civilization, first as a tool or weapon, then as construction material, and later, in its crushed form, as one of the basic raw materials for a wide variety of uses ranging from agriculture and chemicals to complex industrial processes. At the beginning of the 20th century, the U.S. production of crushed stone was relatively small, and its uses limited. Today, crushed stone is being produced in 48 of the 50 States, and its annual production tonnage ranks first in the nonfuel minerals industry. The United States is, in general, self-sufficient in crushed stone, producing enough to meet most of the domestic needs. Small quantities of crushed stone, used mainly as construction aggregates, are being imported mostly by water from the Bahamas, Canada, and Mexico to compensate for local shortages that exist in some areas of the country.
The demand for crushed stone is determined mostly by the level of construction activity, and, therefore, the demand for construction materials. U.S. production of crushed stone recorded a significant growth in the past 40 years, from 229 million metric tons in 1950 to 1.1 billion metric tons in 1990. The highest level of production was reached in 1988–1.13 billion metric tons. Between 1950 and 1973, because of the construction of the Interstate Highway System, the growth from year to year in the production of crushed stone was almost continuous, paralleling the increased demand for construction aggregates. Following the reduction in the volume of work in the Interstate Highway Program in the late 1960’s, the crushed stone industry, while still growing, became more sensitive to the ups and downs of the economy. The 1974-75 and 1982 recessions are well reflected by low levels of production of crushed stone in those years. Future demand for crushed stone will continue to be dependent mostly on the growth of construction activity.
Most crushed stone is used for construction purposes, mainly as aggregate with or without a binder. Road base or road surfacing material, macadam, riprap, and railroad ballast are the major uses without a binder. Aggregate for cement and bituminous concrete in highway and road construction and repair and in residential and nonresidential construction are the major uses for aggregates with a binder. Other uses include cement and lime manufacture, agriculture, metallurgical flux, and fillers and extenders.
Crushed stone is a high-volume, low-value commodity. The industry is highly competitive and is characterized by thousands of operations serving local or regional markets. Production costs are determined mainly by the cost of labor, equipment, energy, and water, in addition to the costs of compliance with environmental and safety regulations. These costs vary depending on geographic location, the nature of the deposit, and the number and type of products produced. Despite having one of the lowest average-per- ton values of all mineral commodities, the constant dollar price of crushed stone has changed relatively little during the past 20 years. As a result of rising costs of labor, energy, and mining and processing equipment, the average unit price of crushed stone increased from $1.58 per metric ton, f.o.b. plant, in 1970 to $4.39 in 1990. However, the unit price in constant 1982 dollars fluctuated between $3.48 and $3.91 per metric ton for the same period. Increased productivity achieved through increased use of automation and more efficient equipment was mainly responsible for maintaining the prices at this level.
Underground operations are becoming more common, especially for limestone mining in the central and eastern parts of the United States, as the advantages of such operations are increasingly recognized by the producers. By operating underground, a variety of problems usually connected with surface mining such as environmental impacts and community acceptance are significantly reduced.
Transportation is a major factor in the delivered price of crushed stone . The cost of moving crushed stone from the plant to the market often equals or exceeds the sale price of the product at the plant. Because of the high cost of transportation and the large quantities of bulk material that have to be shipped, crushed stone is usually marketed locally. The high cost of transportation is responsible for the wide dispersion of crushed stone quarries around the country, usually located near highly populated areas. However, increasing land values combined with local environmental concerns are moving crushed stone quarries farther from the end-use locations, increasing the price of delivered material. Economies of scale, which might be realized if fewer, larger operations served larger marketing areas, would probably not offset the increased transportation costs.
Although crushed stone resources are widespread and in adequate supply nationally, local shortages exist. Land use conflicts and environmental problems associated with rapid urban expansion are major factors contributing to these shortages. The local shortages that occasionally exist are caused less by a lack of stone than by urban encroachment or zoning regulations that force closure of operating quarries or prevent the development of new ones. Demand pressures, land use regulations, and the cost of meeting environmental and reclamation requirements are factors that will cause a rising price trend.
Sand and gravel and to a lesser extent iron-blast-furnace slag are the predominant substitutes for crushed stone used as construction aggregate. Steel slag is another substitute for crushed stone in road bases and asphaltic concrete, but not in cement concretes because of chemical interaction. Blast-furnace slag is also used as a stone substitute in cement manufacturing.
Crushed Stone remains an abundant material, and, despite environmental, zoning, and regulatory restrictions, no shortages on a large scale are expected to occur in the future.
