Category: Projects

The Quest for World Soccer-Worthy Sand

June 23, 2026
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

Seattle Stadium, a.k.a. Lumen Field, has taken on a wholly different look for the world soccer games. The Stadium is hosting six matches before the final world soccer matchup in New Jersey on July 19th. Two games have already been played with four left to go.

The Seahawks’ home turf is currently buried beneath a sandwich of geogrid, sand, and natural grass. The conversion from synthetic turf to natural grass field was a must to bring the stadium up to the world soccer organization’s strict standards.

The process was rigorous but worth the effort. The Athletic, a sports platform owned by The New York Times, recently ranked Seattle Stadium the #1 venue for the world soccer games based on “atmosphere, location, and suitability for soccer.” It even gave the field a 10/10 in the “suitability for soccer” category.

Read on to learn about how the natural grass system was installed and how Washington Rock’s sand played a role.

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Washington Rock Assists in Flood Relief

December 30, 2025
Washington Rock
by Washington Rock

Orting, WA—After record floods in December, Washington Rock Quarries answered the call to make and ship material to critical areas in the Puget Sound region.

Washington Rock’s team members worked long hours and even volunteered to come in on their holiday weekends to supply materials. Read on to learn about the flood relief and repairs our materials were sent to.

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A Living Classroom: The Gig Harbor Demonstration Garden

October 6, 2025
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

It’s a humid Wednesday with clouds looming overhead, and the Gig Harbor Demonstration Garden at Sehmel Homestead Park is busy with volunteers tidying, picking produce, and answering questions.

At a picnic bench in front of the central shed, a volunteer thumbs through a reference book, looking for insights about a visitor’s gardening concerns. Another volunteer helps young visitors fill produce bags with freshly picked carrots. Some of these scenes are pictured in the photos below.

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Camping Meets Zen: The Ofuro Spa & Long Beach Campfield

August 26, 2025
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

The Ofuro Spa rises up behind a thicket of alders growing alongside a pond. Inspired by Japanese bathhouses, the spa’s architecture blends Pacific Northwest modernism with traditional bathhouse elements like a hot pool, a cold plunge pool, and a sauna clad in hinoki cypress wood.

The spa received the last part of its glow-up this year when Coastline Concrete Coatings, led by Pararescueman Josiah Stromstad, coated the walking surfaces with epoxy and Washington Rock’s Armorstone product.

Learn more about this unique woodland escape and Josiah’s story in our latest article.

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Connecting the Old and the New: Lakewold Gardens

July 21, 2025
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

Nestled along the shoreline of Gravelly Lake, Lakewold Gardens has been enchanting visitors for almost 40 years. Washington Rock Quarries recently contributed 115 tons of gravel to the restoration of the walking paths, just one of many planned improvements.

Step back in time with us to learn more about the history of this storied estate garden and learn about how staff are making the old new again.

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Building the Seattle Sounders FC Training Fields: A Photo Essay

August 5, 2024
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

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.

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Bringing Back Lower Wapato Creek | A Wetland Restoration Story

September 26, 2023
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

Millions 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.

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Designing for Diana: How We Made Gravel Wheelchair-Accessible in Brooklyn

July 27, 2022
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

In 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.

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The Not-So-Secret Garden: Old Goat Farm

June 15, 2021
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

Washington Rock Quarries regularly blogs about causes and businesses that use our rock, sand, or soil products. In 2021, we published this story about Old Goat Farm, owned and operated by Gary Waller and Greg Graves. Greg passed away in late 2022, and Greg recently sold Old Goat Farm and began a new adventure in Eatonville, WA. We kept the Old Goat Farm story in the original format and hope you can continue to find inspiration in it.

Tucked away in the woods of Graham is a sprawling garden from the pages of a storybook. Swaths of flowers border a lawn that flows in different directions. Each garden bed is flush with hundreds of plants: fluffy peonies here, yellow clusters of ranunculus there, colonies of hosta winding like a forest stream. The colors and forms are endless.

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A Horse Farm Turned Wedding Destination: The Hidden Farm

April 27, 2021
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

This article explores how The Hidden Farm uses ¼” Minus trail gravel to create cement-like paths and flooring for weddings and then easily transitions it into a horse arena footing in the winter.

The sections “The Secret Ingredient: Trail Gravel” and “Megan’s Gravel Recipe for Paddocks” contain specific information about how gravel products are used. Don’t forget to watch our video about The Hidden Farm located at the end of the article. We hope you enjoy the beautiful story of The Hidden Farm.

Just beyond the shorelines of Lake Tapps, The Hidden Farm sits on a hill surrounded by acres of pastureland. The valley below is dotted with grazing horses and cattle, and in the distance are the snow-frosted foothills of Mt. Rainier.

The viewpoint at the rim of the hill is bordered by a granite rockery. Behind the rockery stretches a smooth, green lawn, flanked on one side by horse stables and on the other side, a horse arena and a classic red barn.

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