Track Out Rock

Are your using the correct Track Out rock at your Construction Site?

Construction has certainly changed immensely over the last few years. One area that has not been ignored in experiencing dynamic change is the increase of rules and regulations and the augmentation of sanctions for non-compliance.

Track Out rock is required on most if not all construction sites, and is one of the relatively new contemporary requirements for a construction site. Dust Control plans, as well as SWPPP Plans, require the proper installation and usage of Track Out rock at exit and/or entry points to your site. It is very easy for an inspector or police officer to follow the mud trail on the roadway surface back to its origin on your job site. This usually results in having to wash or sweep the road, be fined, or both.

Track Out rock construction details usually specify the type of rock required. Language accompanying the detail usually goes like this:

  • Rock Rip Rap or Rock Mulch shall be angular in shape crushed or shot rock angular rock.
  • Natural river run materials such as rounded river rocks, cobblestones, and pebbles are NOT acceptable.

The folks who promote and sell river rock for Track Out rock use tout its desirability claiming “your tires can spin in the rock, increasing the cleaning action of the rock”. This actually is part of the problem with its use, allowing the following to occur:

  1. Vehicles entering your site can get stuck blocking the Entry/Exit to the site.
  2. Access by emergency vehicles can be hampered or blocked.
  3. Vehicles which get stuck entering frequently spray rock out onto the roadway surface they have just exited, causing a serious road hazard.
  4. Vehicles leaving the site, especially the larger delivery trucks which are now empty having less traction over their drive wheels and the dead weight of their trailer, can have trouble exiting the site safely. The truck slows down to prudently enter traffic flow. Due to its length, he has to wait for a break in the flow of traffic so the driver stops. The driver now is waiting for an opportunity to exit the site, and when it comes time he hits the gas only to have his truck move indecisively forward with a “chattering” action. You have seen it! We all have. Now the driver must stop again or continue moving the rig onto the roadway at less than optimal speed where his window of access opportunity is shrinking. This is dangerous and very avoidable.
  5. Some inspectors absolutely forbid the use of non-fractured rocks due to the ease with which river rock can lodge between the dual wheels of a truck and then be shot out at high speed after leaving the site, like on the freeway.
  6. When angular rock is placed it stays in place, eliminating the need for constant and repetitive maintenance due to rock migration.

Picture this. You have started your project: Track Out rock is being placed and your site is now open for business. You have deliveries scheduled and the first truck gets stuck, blocking your site’s access to other trucks either on route or actually waiting to enter the site. Who needs this? Who needs rock on the roadway or rocks being propelled like bullets from between tires?

It is true that over time the river rock can bed in after being watered and rolled into the subgrade and the propensity for calamity will decrease, but why take a chance? Your job as a construction professional is to avoid needless problems, liabilities, and heart burn and to get your project running as smoothly and quickly as possible.

Use angular rock from the Ringo Canyon Quarry. Our rock will form a stable, firm driving surface which will clean your tires and facilitate easy ingress and egress.

Sincerely,
Ringo Canyon Granite, LLC.

Ringo Canyon Granite

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4650 N Kain Avenue
Tucson, Arizona 85705