What is the difference between topsoil and fill dirt?

Fill dirt is a structural material for raising grade, filling low ground and backfilling before a base course goes down. Screened topsoil is a growing medium for lawns and bed prep. On new lots stripped to clay subsoil, fill dirt goes below and imported screened topsoil goes on top.

What is untreated base course and what is it used for in Salt Lake County?

Untreated base course, or UTBC, is a base course of natural gravel, crushed rock or crushed slag placed on a prepared subbase or subgrade. It goes under driveways, parking pads, slabs, shed bases and paver work.

How deep should a gravel driveway base be in Salt Lake County?

Depth depends on the ground under it and what the drive carries, and no single figure fits every site. Bench gravel drains fast while valley-floor silt and clay hold water, so the drainage layer matters as much as the base. Frost depth is 30 inches in Salt Lake City, and each jurisdiction sets its own figure.

Salt Lake County Landscape Rock and Gravel, UT

Utah Rock Supply delivers gravel, stone and aggregate in Salt Lake County, UT. Base, driveway and paver work here runs from early spring into late autumn, and frozen ground stops compaction in midwinter.

Untreated base course is the material under most of that work. Across the Wasatch Front and the Bonneville benches, new lots are commonly stripped to clay subsoil before anything is built, so the base carries the load.

Ground Conditions Across Salt Lake County

Water is the driver on this ground. Bench gravel drains fast, while valley-floor silt and clay hold water, and shallow groundwater sits close to the surface in low ground near the lakes.

Spring snowmelt off the Wasatch and summer cloudbursts at the canyon mouths both arrive faster than the ground can take them. That is why a drainage layer matters as much as a compacted base.

Debris flows and flash flooding out of the canyons onto the alluvial fans move coarse stone. Snowmelt cuts bench slopes, and bare, dry ground sheds soil in a cloudburst.

Riprap armors those banks and outlets.

Cold, dry winters bring repeated freeze-thaw in the valleys with light snow cover on the valley floor, so gravel drives and the edges of flatwork heave every spring. Frost depth is 30 inches in Salt Lake City; each jurisdiction sets its own figure, so confirm it with the local building official.

July and August are dry enough that a base needs added water to compact properly. Plan the work around that window rather than against it.

Materials Delivered in Salt Lake County

Untreated base course, shortened to UTBC by Utah yards and crews, is the compacting base for driveways, parking pads, slabs, shed bases and paver work.

City and county work follows the APWA Utah Chapter Manual of Standard Specifications, where the matching section is 32 11 23 Untreated Base Course. Section 02056 Embankment, Borrow, and Backfill covers granular borrow and granular backfill borrow under and around it.

Those are the words Utah plans and submittals use.

Utah yards also call the same material road base and sell it by top size, such as 3/4 inch minus or 1 1/2 inch minus. Road Base is the catalogue name for it.

Washed stone covers the drainage side. 3/8" Crushed Stone suits fine drainage, pipe bedding and paver joints, and #57 Stone is spec language for drainage and concrete aggregate.

Sand and soil round out the list. Washed Sand beds and levels under pavers and slabs, and Garden Soil is a soil and compost blend for raised beds, since native ground is low in organic matter.

Delivery Across Salt Lake County

You order online, choose a quantity by the ton or by the yard, and pick a delivery date at checkout. Each product page has a calculator to help size the load.

A dump truck tips the load in one pile on site. Have the drop area clear and reachable before the truck arrives, with room for the truck to pull in and out.

Delivery covers Salt Lake City, West Valley City, West Jordan, Sandy, South Jordan, Herriman, Draper, Riverton, Midvale, Bingham Canyon and Magna.

Choosing the Right Material

Utah County and Davis County sit in the same ground region as Salt Lake County, across the Wasatch Front and the Bonneville benches. Lake Bonneville sorted all three the same way.

Sand and gravel sit in the benches and in the deltas at the canyon mouths, and finer silt and clay lie out on the valley floor. Soils are alkaline and low in organic matter, and new lots are commonly stripped to clay subsoil before anything is built.

So the base and drainage choice does not change much from one of these counties to the next. Alkaline ground and stripped subsoil call for imported base and imported topsoil in all three.

Match the material to the job. Base course for anything that takes weight, washed stone for anything that moves water, and fines-bearing material for surfaces you walk on.

Order Gravel, Stone and Soil in Salt Lake County

Utah Rock Supply delivers untreated base course, crusher fines, washed stone, sand, topsoil and decorative rock for driveways, pads, paths, drainage and beds across Salt Lake County. Size your load on the product page, choose a delivery date at checkout, and the truck tips it on site.

Salt Lake County, UT Gravel and Landscape Rock Delivery