Never bought gravel before? If you’re overwhelmed, you’re not alone. We covered some of the basics about buying gravel so that you can be more confident in selecting and ordering gravel for your project.
…ContinuedAuthor: Eve Hart
Eve received her bachelor's in advertising and minor in editing from Brigham Young University. She has over 15 years of experience writing and editing for magazines, journals, and other professional publications. As the community relations manager at Washington Rock Quarries, she writes content, designs advertising materials, and plans events.
The Seattle Sounders Football Club celebrated their 50th anniversary last month at their new headquarters and training facility at Longacres: The Providence Swedish Performance Center & Clubhouse.
The transformation from office parking lot to training fields—two natural grass fields and two artificial turf fields—took less than a year. Venture General Contracting oversaw both the remodel of the offices and the construction of the fields. Nearly 80,000 tons of Washington Rock’s materials were shipped to the fields throughout construction.
…ContinuedWith no other place to go, a mother pulls her van into a newly graveled lot. It doesn’t look like much, but it’s a godsend. It’s lit with a streetlight, and there’s running water, portable bathrooms, and outlets where she can charge her phone.
The entire lot is fenced, and the gate locks at night. Her kids can play in the field nearby. In the morning, there will be a hot meal ready at the church next door, and her whole family will be given bagged lunches filled with sandwiches, fruit, chips, drinks, and treats.
…ContinuedYou would probably recognize the Carnation name off of a can of sweetened condensed milk. After all, that’s the origin of the town’s name. But some locals prefer the original name: Tolt.
Occupying just over one square mile with a population of 2,220, you wouldn’t be the first to dismiss Carnation as a blip on a map. For the past century, the main street of Tolt Avenue has been less of a Disneyland-kind-of main street and more of a rugged thoroughfare. But over the years, passionate Carnationites banded together to elevate Tolt Avenue to the charming main street it is today.
…ContinuedMillions of acres of American wetlands have been destroyed since the late 1700s, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Early settlers viewed wetlands as disease-ridden swamps that impeded travel and agricultural development. Their solution was to drain the wetlands and turn them into farmable land.
In the mid 1960s, the port was growing in Tacoma. Shipping channels were being expanded, and more land was needed for industrial activities. Like many wetlands in the area, Wapato Creek was diverted into a channelized ditch. Its former path was filled with material removed from the waterways, solving both the need for expanded waterways and more land. The channelized ditch ran along 12th Street East in Fife, then followed Alexander Avenue west to a culvert that feeds into Blair Waterway.
…ContinuedAlmost 900 feet above the Colorado River, the views from the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge are spectacular. Tourists have a panoramic view of the Hoover Dam and the blue-green waters of the river, which travel from the top of the dam to the bottom. This technological marvel is surrounded by red rock canyons, providing a stark contrast between industry and nature.
…ContinuedWashington Rock’s Sand and Slide booth returned to Dozer Day Seattle 2023. The event ran from Saturday, May 20th to Sunday, May 21st at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup.
…ContinuedWashington Rock Quarries made its debut at the Puyallup Farmer’s Market over the weekend on April 15, 2023. Sales manager Sam Martinson and I answered questions from market visitors about landscaping projects and products.
…ContinuedIn 2020, a group of Washington Rock team members and their spouses traveled to Las Vegas for CONEXPO-CON/AGG, one of the largest construction trade shows in the world. People came from all over the world to attend, make connections, and showcase their products and ideas.
We rented a sprawling house about 20 minutes from the Strip and had two vans to shuttle employees to the show, nicknamed Van Damme and Van Morrison (one of my favorite memories).
…ContinuedIn front of the community movie theater in Friday Harbor, a perch welcomes anyone who passes by. It’s not your everyday park bench: it’s sculpted granite, refined in its well-formed lines and polished surfaces, yet preserving a natural form in its organic waves and curves. Like its creator Tom Small, it is solid, stable, and unpretentious. It invites viewers to pause and enjoy a few minutes’ rest and peace.
…ContinuedLowman Beach Park is small, but according to locals, it’s a hidden gem with incredible views. On a warm day, you might come across sunbathers taking in the rays, children playing on driftwood logs, or paddle boarders setting off from the shore.
…ContinuedLawns require so much water and care that some homeowners look for lower maintenance landscaping ideas. In this article, learn about how three of our clients have used our gravel to create stunning grass-less landscapes.
…ContinuedIn a city known for skyscrapers and tiny apartments, Diana Sanzone’s Brooklyn backyard is a rare treasure. But Diana couldn’t enjoy the muddy yard in her motorized wheelchair.
Her landscaper, Daniel S. Burnstein, wanted to create a natural-looking, affordable surface so that Diana could enjoy her yard once again. Gravel was his material of choice. But one thing had Daniel stumped: how could he ensure that the gravel surface was wheelchair accessible?
Daniel turned to Washington Rock Quarries for advice. With the help of industry experts, Washington Rock made a guide for creating a wheelchair-accessible gravel surface. Then we teamed up with Daniel and Vermont-based gravel supplier North East Materials Group to adapt those guidelines to Diana’s yard.
…ContinuedDaniel Burnstein of Brooklyn, New York had a unique dilemma: his client wanted to be able to use the backyard with a wheelchair. Concrete work and pavers can be expensive, and Daniel liked the rustic charm of gravel.
His question: Can gravel surfaces be wheelchair accessible? The answer is yes—if they meet certain standards.
Washington Rock, with the help of landscape architect Clayton Beaudoin, researched the topic and came up with guidelines for making gravel surfaces wheelchair accessible.
Our goal is to make these guidelines as easy as possible to follow, so we created a simple guide below. Then we included additional resources, such as a Glossary of Terms and Research Notes.
Check out the companion piece to this article, “Designing for Diana: How We Made Gravel Wheelchair-Accessible in Brooklyn,” to read about how we used our guidelines to help Daniel create a gravel-accessible backyard. The project is summarized in the video below.
…ContinuedFiguring out how much topsoil or gravel you need is a tricky business. Below I’ll take you through how our material calculator works and how much various trucks can carry. Be sure to check out our new video for step-by-step instructions on calculating how many cubic yards of material you need.
To visualize how many cubic yards or tons a pickup truck or dump truck can carry, check out our post, “What Does a Cubic Yard Look Like?”